Demographics will reverse three multi-decade global trends

Between the 1980s and the 2000s, the largest ever positive labour supply shock occurred, resulting from demographic trends and from the inclusion of China and eastern Europe into the World Trade Organization. This led to a shift in manufacturing to Asia, especially China; a stagnation in real wages; a collapse in the power of private sector trade unions; increasing inequality within countries, but less inequality between countries; deflationary pressures; and falling interest rates. This shock is now reversing. As the world ages, real interest rates will rise, inflation and wage growth will pick up and inequality will fall. What is the biggest challenge to our thesis? The hardest prior trend to reverse will be that of low interest rates, which have resulted in a huge and persistent debt overhang, apart from some deleveraging in advanced economy banks. Future problems may now intensify as the demographic structure worsens, growth slows, and there is little stomach for major inflation. Are we in a trap where the debt overhang enforces continuing low interest rates, and those low interest rates encourage yet more debt finance? There is no silver bullet, but we recommend policy measures to switch from debt to equity finance

Highly Uniform Platinum Icosahedra Made by Hot Injection-Assisted GRAILS Method

Highly uniform Pt icosahedral nanocrystals with an edge length of 8.8 nm were synthesized in nonhydrolytic systems using the hot injection-assisted GRAILS (gas reducing agent in liquid solution) method. The results show the key factors for the shape control include fast nucleation, kinetically controlled growth, and protection from oxidation by air. The effect of oxygen molecules on the Pt morphology was experimentally confirmed based on the study of shape evolution of icosahedral crystals upon exposure to oxygen gas. The Pt icosahedral catalysts obtained had an area-specific activity of 0.83 mA/cm² Pt, four times that of 0.20 mA/cm² Pt for typical Pt/C catalysts, in an oxygen reduction reaction (ORR)

A map of 32 sampling sites of alpine steppe on the northern Tibetan Plateau.

<p>A map of 32 sampling sites of alpine steppe on the northern Tibetan Plateau.</p

Stoichiometry of Root and Leaf Nitrogen and Phosphorus in a Dry Alpine Steppe on the Northern Tibetan Plateau

<div><p>Leaf nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) have been used widely in the ecological stoichiometry to understand nutrient limitation in plant. However,few studies have focused on the relationship between root nutrients and environmental factors. The main objective of this study was to clarify the pattern of root and leaf N and P concentrations and the relationships between plant nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) concentrations with climatic factors under low temperature conditions in the northern Tibetan Plateau of China. We conducted a systematic census of N and P concentrations, and the N∶P ratio in leaf and root for 139 plant samples, from 14 species and 7 families in a dry <i>Stipa purpurea</i> alpine steppe on the northern Tibetan Plateau of China. The results showed that the mean root N and P concentrations and the N∶P ratios across all species were 13.05 mg g⁻¹, 0.60 mg g⁻¹ and 23.40, respectively. The mean leaf N and P concentrations and the N∶P ratio were 23.20 mg g⁻¹, 1.38 mg g⁻¹, and 17.87, respectively. Compared to global plant nutrients concentrations, plants distributing in high altitude area have higher N concentrations and N∶P, but lower P concentrations, which could be used to explain normally-observed low growth rate of plant in the cold region. Plant N concentrations were unrelated to the mean annual temperature (MAT). The root and leaf P concentrations were negatively correlated with the MAT, but the N∶P ratios were positively correlated with the MAT. It is highly possible this region is not N limited, it is P limited, thus the temperature-biogeochemical hypothesis (TBH) can not be used to explain the relationship between plant N concentrations and MAT in alpine steppe. The results were valuable to understand the bio-geographic patterns of root and leaf nutrients traits and modeling ecosystem nutrient cycling in cold and dry environments.</p></div

The relationship between the leaf N∶P stoichiometry and the MAP and MAT of the northern Tibetan Plateau (a–f), China and global (g–i).

<p>The dashed dot line represents the fitted straight line of the leaf N∶P stoichiometry with the MAT and MAP on the northern Tibetan Plateau, the dashed line represents the fitted straight (curved) line of the global leaf N∶P stoichiometry with MAT from Reich and Oleksyn (2004), the solid line represents the fitted straight line for Chinese leaf stoichiometry N∶P with the MAT from Han et al. (2005). Regression lines are shown only for relationships that were significant at <i>P</i><0.05. * and *** represent relationships that significant at the 0.05 and 0.001, respectively.</p

Pt@Nb-TiO₂ Catalyst Membranes Fabricated by Electrospinning and Atomic Layer Deposition

A facile method was developed to fabricate fibrous membranes of niobium-doped titania-supported platinum catalysts (Pt@Nb-TiO₂) by a two-step approach. The process started with generating niobium-doped titania (Nb-TiO₂) fibrous membranes by electrospinning, followed by the deposition of Pt nanoparticles (NPs) using an atomic layer deposition (ALD) technique. The area-specific oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) activity of Pt@TiO₂ catalyst membrane was increased by ∼20 folds if 10 at.% of Nb was incorporated into the ceramic fibers. The area-specific activity also increased with the number of ALD cycles, because of the increase of the Pt loading in the catalysts. After post-treatment of the catalyst membrane at high temperature in H₂-containing atmosphere, the ORR activity became 0.28 mA/cm²_Pt at 0.9 V (vs RHE), because of the improvement in conductivity of Nb-TiO₂ fibers and better crystalinity of Pt NPs. The results of accelerated-stability test showed that the Pt@Nb-TiO₂ catalyst membrane was highly stable and lost only 10% of its initial activity after 30 000 potential cycles (0.6 to 1.0 V vs RHE) under a strong acidic condition

The relationship between the root N∶P stoichiometry and the MAP and MAT across all species on the northern Tibetan Plateau.

<p>Regression lines are shown only for relationships that were significant at <i>P</i><0.05. * and ** represent relationships that significant at the 0.05 and 0.01, respectively.</p

The relationship between leaf N and the MAT under low temperatures (MAT <10°C), including northern Tibetan Plateau data (this study), global data from Reich and Oleksyn (2004), Chinese data from Han et al. (2005) and eastern Tibetan Plateau data from He et al. (2006 b).

<p>The relationship between leaf N and the MAT under low temperatures (MAT <10°C), including northern Tibetan Plateau data (this study), global data from Reich and Oleksyn (2004), Chinese data from Han et al. (2005) and eastern Tibetan Plateau data from He et al. (2006 b).</p

Correlation coefficients between plant N, P, and N∶P ratio, and climate factors (MAT, MAP) in northern Tibet Plateau.

<p><b>*</b>, <b>**</b>, and <b>***</b> represent correlation that is significant at the 0.05, 0.01 and 0.001 level (2-tailed), respectively.</p><p>Correlation coefficients between plant N, P, and N∶P ratio, and climate factors (MAT, MAP) in northern Tibet Plateau.</p

The relationship between the root and leaf N∶P stoichiometry across all species on the northern Tibetan Plateau.

<p>The relationship between the root and leaf N∶P stoichiometry across all species on the northern Tibetan Plateau.</p