Inflation targeting (Pro and contra) : contra

Inflation Targeting, Kritik, Criticism

Relationship between One’s Motive for Curiosity and Meaning in Life

Meaning in life as a psychological construct has many demonstrated benefits for psychological well-being and optimal functioning (Steger, 2013), and the treatment of clinical populations (Thir & Batthyány, 2016). This study investigated in greater detail than is currently available in the psychological literature how meaning in life is related to curiosity. Meaning in life was explored using top-down (the presence of and the search for meaning) and bottom-up (the specific sources of meaning) approaches. Curiosity was examined in its two motivation-based forms: curiosity motivated by the anticipation and enjoyment of discovery (an appetitive interest-type of curiosity) and curiosity motivated by a need to reduce uncertainty by filling in worrisome gaps in knowledge (a deprivation-type anxiety-reducing type of curiosity). Data were obtained from an Amazon Mechanical Turk sample of 190 participants. The two types of curiosity were not associated with the presence of meaning in life. However, deprivation-type curiosity was more strongly related to the search for meaning in life than interest-type curiosity. While both types of curiosity were positively related to an overall endorsement of sources of meaning in life, interest-type curiosity was specifically more related to self-transcendence and achievement as sources of meaning and negatively related to intimacy and religion. Deprivation-type curiosity was related to greater self-transcendence as a meaning source. This study adds to the existing literature by demonstrating how the relationship between curiosity and meaning in life does depend on the motives for one’s curiosity

Critical examination of the demographic and psychological implications of mass preparation theory

Working PaperThe obesity epidemic has generated a tremendous amount of speculation regarding its etiology. Some explanations focus on structural changes in U.S. society, such as the increased reliance on modern technologies for food production, work and entertainment (French, Story and Jeffery 2001; Koplan and Deitz 1999; Philipson and Posner 2003). Other explanations cite societal trends that have coincided with the rise in obesity, such the marketing of high calorie foods and engagement in passive leisure activities, both of which have reached all time highs in the U.S. (Brownell 2002; French et al. 2001). Still other explanations focus narrowly on specific determinants, such as the "supersized" portions available at a number of restaurants (Simms and Martell 2003)

Paraspinal Abscess Secondary to Tuberculous Spondylitis Diagnosed by Xpert MTB/RIF Assay in Rural Tanzania.

A 31-year-old HIV-negative man presented to our clinic with a 6-month history of back pain and a swelling at the back. Radiological studies revealed lumbar vertebral destruction. Ultrasound of the mass showed a septated cystic mass with turbid fluid. Diagnostic aspiration revealed thick pus and smear microscopy detected acid-fast bacilli. Xpert MTB/RIF assay detected Mycobacterium tuberculosis with no rifampicin resistance

Specificity of DNA triple helix formation analyzed by a FRET assay

BACKGROUND: A third DNA strand can bind into the major groove of a homopurine duplex DNA to form a DNA triple helix. Sequence specific triplex formation can be applied for gene targeting, gene silencing and mutagenesis. RESULTS: We have analyzed triplex formation of two polypurine triplex forming oligodeoxynucleotides (TFOs) using fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET). Under our conditions, the TFOs bind to their cognate double strand DNAs with binding constants of 2.6 × 10(5) and 2.3 × 10(6) M(-1). Our data confirm that the polypurine TFO binds in an antiparallel orientation with respect to the polypurine DNA strand and that triplex formation requires Mg(2+)ions whereas it is inhibited by K(+)ions. The rate of formation of triple helices is slow with bimolecular rate constants of 5.6 × 10(4) and 8.1 × 10(4) min(-1) M(-1). Triplex dissociation was not detectable over at least 30 hours. Triplex formation is sequence specific; alteration of a single base pair within the 13 base pairs long TFOs prevents detectable triplex formation. CONCLUSION: We have applied a FRET assay to investigate the specificity of DNA triple helix formation. This assay is homogeneous, continuous and specific, because the appearance of the FRET signal is directly correlated to triplex formation. We show that polypurine TFOs bind highly specifically to polypurine stretches in double stranded DNA. This is a prerequisite for biotechnical applications of triple helices to mediate sequence specific recognition of DNA

Accounting for Biases in Survey-Based Estimates of Population Attributable Fractions

Background: This paper discusses best practices for estimating fractions of mortality attributable to health exposures in survey data that are biased by observed confounders and unobserved endogenous selection. Extant research has shown that estimates of population attributable fractions (PAF) from the formula using the proportion of deceased that is exposed (PAFpd) can attend to confounders, whereas the formula using the proportion of the entire sample exposed (PAFpe) is biased by confounders. Research has not explored how PAFpd and PAFpe equations perform when both confounding and selection bias are present. Methods: We review equations for calculating PAF based on either the proportion of deceased (pd) or the proportion of the entire sample (pe) that receives the exposure. We explore how estimates from each equation are affected by confounding bias and selection bias using hypothetical data and real-world survey data from the National Health Interview Survey–Linked Mortality Files, 1987–2011. We examine the association between cigarette smoking and all-cause mortality risk in the US adult population as an example. Results: We show that both PAFpd and PAFpe calculate the true PAF in the presence of confounding bias if one uses the “weighted-sum” approach. We further show that both the PAFpd and PAFpe calculate biased PAFs in the presence of collider bias, but that the bias is more severe in the PAFpd formula. Conclusion: We recommend that researchers use the PAFpe formula with the weighted-sum approach when estimates of the exposure-outcome relationship are biased by endogenous selection

PKCα: a versatile key for decoding the cellular calcium toolkit

Conventional protein kinases C (cPKCs) play an essential role in signal transduction and are believed to integrate both global Ca2+ transients and diacylglycerol signals. We provide evidence that PKCα is a ubiquitous readout sensor for the cellular Ca2+ toolkit, including highly restricted elementary Ca2+ release

Die zentrale Rolle des Staates in der nachholenden Industrialisierung

Die beeindruckende sozioökonomische Entwicklung in Taiwan und Südkorea zählt zu den wenigen Fällen des 20. Jahrhunderts, in denen eine nachholende Industrialisierung realisiert werden konnte. Die hohen ökonomischen Wachstumsraten warfen schnell die Frage nach den Erfolgsfaktoren dieser Entwicklung auf. Von vielen Seiten interpretiert, stellt sich immer wieder die Frage nach der Rolle des Staates im ostasiatischen Wirtschaftswunder. Aufgrund der Dominanz der neoliberalen Interpretationen entstand das Konzept des „Entwicklungsstaates“, das die zentrale Rolle des Staates im ostasiatischen Entwicklungsprozess anerkennt und die spezielle Art des Staates als Erfolgsfaktor identifiziert. Dabei stehen zwei Bereiche im Vordergrund, nämlich die Beziehung zwischen Staat und gesellschaftlichen Interessengruppen und die institutionell-politischen Voraussetzung für eine erfolgreiche Intervention in den Markt. Mithilfe dieser Kriterien wird der politökonomische Entwicklungsprozess in Taiwan und Südkorea in dieser Diplomarbeit analysiert. Diese zwei genannten Bereiche geben Aufschluss über die staatliche Kapazität der Durchführung der nachholenden Industrialisierung, die der Staat braucht um in den Markt zugunsten wirtschaftlicher Entwicklung intervenieren zu können. Der Industrialisierungsprozess in Taiwan und Südkorea hat gezeigt, dass ein autoritärer Staat mit einer relativen Autonomie von einflussreichen Interessengruppen in Verbindung mit einem weit reichenden, leistungsorientierten bürokratischen Apparat, der enge Beziehungen zu der kapitalistischen Klasse hält, sehr erfolgreich hinsichtlich ökonomischer Entwicklung sein kann, wenn er den Markt im Sinne der nationalen Entwicklung steuert.Taiwan and South Korea are two countries that realized an impressive socio-economic development in the context of late development in the 20th century. High economic growth rates caused scrutiny of the reasons of this success story, whereas the state always was an important actor. Due to the domination of neoliberal interpretations of the East Asian success story the concept of the Developmental State was created. With the concept of the Developmental State the dominant role of the state in the development process received new attention, in addition it was an attempt to interpret the East Asian development experience as a state guided process. These statist authors identify a special kind of state, the developmental state, as the reason for achieving high growth and stability. Central in this concept are the relationship between state and social interest groups and the institutional basis for governing the market. With these components the development process in Taiwan and South Korea is analyzed in this thesis. The result shows how much capacity the states in East Asia feature to initiate an industrialization process. Institutionally speaking the industrialization process in Taiwan and South Korea demonstrates that an authoritarian state with relative autonomy of interest groups in combination with an effective meritocratic bureaucratic apparatus, which holds close connections with the capitalist class, can be very successful concerning economic development. The state’s responsibility is to guide the market and control private agents in order to initiate the industrialization process and obtain rapid and sustained economic growth