Top Quark Pair Production and Properties Measurements at the Tevatron

The Tevatron proton-antiproton collider at Fermilab with its centre of mass energy of 1.96 TeV is currently the only source for the production of top quarks. This report reflects the current status of measurements of the top quark pair production cross section and properties performed by the CDF and D0 Collaborations. Utilising datasets of up to two inverse fb, these measurements allow unprecedented precision in probing the validity of the Standard Model.Comment: April 2008. 14 pages, 13 figures. Prepared for the proceedings of the Rencontres de Physique de la Vallee d'Aoste, La Thuile, Aosta Valley, Italy, 24 February - 01 March 200

Searches for New Physics in Top Decays at D0

The Tevatron proton-antiproton collider at Fermilab with its centre of mass energy of 1.96 TeV allows for pair production of top quarks and the study of top quark decay properties. This report reflects the current status of measurements of the W boson helicity in top quark decays and the ratio of top quark branching fractions as well as searches for neutral current top quark decays and pair production of fourth generation t' quarks, performed by the D0 Collaboration utilising datasets of up to 5.4/fb.Comment: 5 pages. To be included in PANIC 2011 conference proceeding

Top Quark Physics at the Tevatron

The Tevatron proton-antiproton collider at Fermilab with its centre of mass energy of 1.96 TeV is currently the only source for the production of top quarks. Its increased luminosity and centre of mass energy in Run II allow both collider detectors CDF and D0 to study top quarks with unprecedented scrutiny. Recent results on the top quark's pair production cross section and its properties such as mass, electric charge, helicity of the W boson in its decay and branching fraction B(t->Wb) are presented and probe the validity of the Standard Model.Comment: September 2007. 8 pages, 3 figures. Prepared for the proceedings of the XXVII Physics in Collision Symposium, Annecy, France, 26-29 June 200

Central Bank Performance under Inflation Targeting

Gosselin examines and reports on the various factors that contribute to successful inflation targeting. Using a panel of 21 inflation-targeting countries over the period 1990Q1-2007Q2, Gosselin finds that the ability of central banks to hit their targets varies considerably. Some of these differences can be explained by exchange rate fluctuations, fiscal deficits, and differences in financial development. Others are explained by differences in the targeting framework itself and the manner in which it is implemented.

Information and Small and Medium sized Enterprises: the convergence of Shared-Time Work and Information and Communication Technologies

The subject of this communication is to analyze points of similarities of using Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) and Shared Time Work (STW), for a special category of firms, whose place seems to be more and more important: Small and Middle sized Enterprises (SMEs). After several particularities (apart from the size), we will remind their difficulties in Human Resources Management, especially about ICT, then the opportunity in the using of STW, for research teachers, professionals and media. We will present different legal shapes, then precise points of similarities between TIC and STW, and finally, results among different kinds of players in this one, in an exploring research.human resources management, information and communication technologies, shared time work, small and middle sized enterprises

Central Bank Performance under Inflation Targeting

The inflation targeting (IT) regime is 17 years old. With practice of IT now in more than 21 countries, there is enough evidence gathered to take stock of the IT experience. In this paper, we analyze the inflation record of IT central banks. We extend the work of Albagli and Schmidt-Hebbel (2004) by looking at a broad range of factors that can influence inflation target deviations and by identifying the empirical determinants of successful monetary policy under IT. We find that part of the cross-country and time variation in inflation deviations from targets can be explained by exchange rate movements, fiscal deficits, and differences in financial sector development. With respect to the components of the IT framework, we find that a higher inflation target and a larger inflation control range are associated with more variable inflation (and output) outcomes. Although the literature tends to suggest that greater central bank transparency is desirable, our findings imply that transparency might be associated with less satisfactory inflation performance. Interestingly, central banks using economic models do a better job of stabilizing inflation around the target and output around trend.Central bank research; Inflation targets; Monetary policy framework