Characteristics of Community and Healthcare Associated Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus aureus

Undergraduate Basi

The axiom of choice and the paradoxes of the sphere.

Thesis (M.A.)--Boston UniversityThe Axiom of Choice is stated in the following form: For every set Z whose elements are sets A, non-empty and mutually disjoint, there exists at least one set B having one and only one element from each of the sets A belonging to Z. Examples are given to show the use of the Axiom of Choice and also to show when it is not needed. Two other fundamental terms are defined, namely "congruence" and "equivalence by finite decomposition", and examples are given. Congruence is defined as follows: The sets of points A and B are congruent: A B, if there exists a function f, which transforms A into B in a one-to-one manner such that if a1 and a2 are two arbitrary points of the set A, then d(a1, a2)=d[f(a1), f(a2)]; d(a, b) is a real number called the distance between the points a and b. The following definition of equivalence by finite decomposition is given: Two sets of points, A and B are equivalent by finite decomposition, Af=B, provided sets A1 , A2, ..., An and B1, B2, ..., Bn exist with the following properties: (1) A=A1+A2+...+An B=B1+B2+...+Bn (2) Aj • Ak=Bj • Bk=0 1 ≤ j < k ≤ n (3) Aj≅Bj 1 ≤ j ≤ n An historic measure problem is discussed briefly. Two paradoxes of the sphere, the Hausdorff Paradox and the Banach and Tarski Paradox are stated and discussed in detail. The Hausdorff Paradox reads as follows: The surface K of the sphere can be decomposed into four disjoint subsets A, B, C, and Q such that (1) K=A+B+C+Q and (2) A≅B≅C, A≅B+C where Q is denumerable. A refinement of this Paradox is introduced in which the denumerable set Q is eliminated. The Banach and Tarski Paradox states that in any Euclidean space of dimension n≥3, two arbitrary sets, bounded and containing interior points, are equivalent by finite decomposition. Various refinements of this paradox are noted. It is observed that the proofs of both paradoxes require the aid of the Axiom of Choice. The controversy over the Axiom of Choice is discussed at length. A wide range of viewpoints is studied, ranging from total rejection by the intuitionists to practically complete acceptance of the axiom. Seven theorems on cardinal numbers that are equivalent to the Axiom of Choice are listed. Six examples of theorems which require the aid of the Axiom of Choice in their proof are given. Based on the results of Hausdorff, Banach and Tarski, and Robinson, three specific questions are answered as follows : with the aid of the Axiom of Choice (1) the surface of a sphere can be decomposed into subsets in such a way that a half and a third of the surface may be congruent to each other. (2) A solid sphere of fixed radius can be decomposed into a finite number of pieces and these pieces can be reassembled to form two solid spheres of the given radius. (3) The minimum number of pieces required in the above problem is five. It is concluded that the general question, "Should the Axiom of Choice be accepted or rejected" is unanswerable at the present time. It is pointed out that the problem of existence and t he paradoxes that result from the axiom are major arguments against its use. However, the axiom simplifies many parts of set theory, analysis, and topology. The fact that Godel has proved the Axiom of Choice consistent with other generally accepted axioms of set theory, provided they are consistent with one another, is a second major point in its favor. Finally, Appendix I contains some statements equivalent to the Axiom of Choice, and Appendix II contains some importru1t theoren1s of Banach and Tarski

A tale of two financial reforms

Financial institutions ; Financial institutions - Japan

Is competitive banking stable?

Bank competition ; Bank supervision

The Signature of God in Medicine and Microbiology An Apologetic Argument for Declarative Design in the Discoveries of Alexander Fleming

In logic and reasoning, a signature indicates the presence of an author; likewise, the characteristics of staphylococci indicate the presence of a Creator. Staphylococci and its “kind” are common bacteria, particularly in colonized people.1 Staphylococcus aureus has a complex molecular mechanism of assembling its golden pigment, staphyloxanthin. The biosynthesis of staphyloxanthin is a stellar example of irreducible complexity. Similar to staphylococci, the life and works of Alexander Fleming show the fingerprints of Providence. The so-called “serendipitous” achievements of Fleming have contributed to modern medicine, convincing Fleming and others that God was at work in his life. Fleming recognized that his life’s discoveries and the “weaving” of events were more than chance; it was the invisible hand of God on his life and works. The molecular complexities of staphylococci mechanisms and the achievements of Fleming indicate the signature of a divine Designer who has placed his signature on his art piece, staphylococci

Monetary Policy, Deflation, and Economic History: Lessons for the Bank of Japan

The paper discusses Bank of Japan policy during the 1990s, especially the late 1990s, in the context of the historical experiences of the United States, Sweden, and Japan in the 1930s. Sharp differences exist between Japan in the 1990s and the 1930s environment; however, this paper takes the position that there are qualitative similarities which cannot be ignored in terms of financial distress, downward price trends, debate over appropriate central bank policy, and how legal independence may constrain appropriate central bank policy. The paper reviews the evolution of views about policy targets from the 1930s to the present to show how price stability reemerged as the primary policy target. Evidence on the success central banks have attained in achieving price stability is reviewed. The evidence shows that claims central banks have overemphasized controlling inflation at the expense of deflation are incorrect with the exception of Japan. The paper reviews the role of the Federal Reserve in the 1930s to show that failure to prevent deflation during the critical 1929?33 period had adverse impacts on the economy and resulted in rendering the Federal Reserve de facto dependent on the government despite its legal independence. The paper then considers the experiences of Japan and Sweden in the 1930s to provide counter-examples of how the U.S. economy might have responded to central bank policy designed to prevent deflation. In both cases, policies explicitly designed to reverse the downward movement in prices reduced the economic and financial distress in those countries compared to the United States. The paper draws implications from the historical record for Bank of Japan policy and suggests that more aggressive action would have been appropriate in the 1990s and that further institutional change toward inflation targeting should be considered.

A ‘Second-Best’ Rationale to Deflationary Monetary Policy in Japan

The Bank of Japan permitted a ten-year period of deflation (1995-2005) which appears to have ended in 2006. The deflation, as well as the preceding disinflation, adversely affected the financial and real sectors of the economy that in turn, made it difficult to recover from the collapse of asset prices in 1990 and 1991. Various ad hoc explanations have been offered to account for the deflation period. This paper offers a second-best explanation based on a two-player policy game between the Bank of Japan and the banking system in which the banking system relies on an accommodative policy of forgiveness and forbearance by the Ministry of Finance to deal with weak balance sheets. The paper does not explicitly model the Ministry of Finance preference function but incorporates the Bank of Japan’s perceived willingness of the Ministry to accommodate the banking system in the Bank’s reaction function. The model suggests that in the context of established deflationary expectations and large amounts of debt, the Bank of Japan explicitly regarded the level of debt as exceeding the socially optimal level, that Ministry of Finance forgiveness and forbearance contributed to this excess, and lacking an instrument to reverse deflationary expectations, the Bank of Japan employed deflation as a disciplining instrument to limit real debt.Monetary Policy, Deflation, Japan

The Cooling of Coronal Plasmas. iv: Catastrophic Cooling of Loops

We examine the radiative cooling of coronal loops and demonstrate that the recently identified catastrophic cooling (Reale and Landi, 2012) is due to the inability of a loop to sustain radiative / enthalpy cooling below a critical temperature, which can be > 1 MK in flares, 0.5 - 1 MK in active regions and 0.1 MK in long tenuous loops. Catastrophic cooling is characterised by a rapid fall in coronal temperature while the coronal density changes by a small amount. Analytic expressions for the critical temperature are derived and show good agreement with numerical results. This effect limits very considerably the lifetime of coronal plasmas below the critical temperature

A Reassessment of the Problems with Interest Targeting: What Have We Learned from Japanese Monetary Policy?

Interest rate targeting is widely used by central banks to pursue price stability; however, the variation in inflation policy outcomes between central banks such as the Federal Reserve and the Bank of Japan despite a common policy instrument framework suggests interest- targeting has limitations. Despite the variation in policy outcomes, the role of targeting was enhanced with the advent of Taylor rules in the 1990s and interest rate targeting dominates central bank attitudes to the exclusion of any other policy instrument framework. The recent Japanese experience confronts us with the need to reassess the relative merits of interest targeting. This paper frames the discussion of the various problems of the interest-targeting framework within a model that encompasses a number of important previous results and stresses that interest rate targeting may leave the price level indeterminate in various plausible circumstances. In a low, or even zero interest rate environment, such as the one that characterized Japan, Taylor-type rules may offer no solution to the indeterminacy problem. The paper then discusses various aspects of the BoJ’s decision to adhere to interest rate targeting despite its limitations.Interest-targeting, Monetary Policy, Deflation, Japan