Macroeconomic Synchronization and Monetary Unions: Is the Euro Area more Synchronous than other Monetary Unions and are Monetary Unions more Synchronous than non-Monetary Unions?

Within currency unions, the conventional wisdom is that there should be a high degree of macroeconomic synchronicity between the constituent parts of the union. But this has not been tested compared to a base sample of countries that do not belong to a monetary union, so this paper endeavors to do exactly that. Although the US is probably one of the longest standing monetary unions in existence, there are others such as Canada and Australia, which have similar federalist structures and relatively independent States or Provinces. In this paper we take euro area data, US State macro data, Canadian provincial data and Australian state data �namely real Gross State Product (GSP), the GSP de�ator and unemployment data �and use techniques relating to recurrence plots to measure the degree of synchronicity of movement over time. The results are expected to show that for the most part monetary unions are more synchronous than non-monetary unions and that the euro area data is highly synchronous, particularly since the �financial crisis, compared to other monetary unions

Freeze-tolerant condenser for a closed-loop heat-transfer system

A freeze tolerant condenser (106) for a two-phase heat transfer system is disclosed. The condenser includes an enclosure (110) and a porous artery (112) located within and extending along the length of the enclosure. A vapor space (116) is defined between the enclosure and the artery, and a liquid space (114) is defined by a central passageway within the artery. The artery includes a plurality of laser-micromachined capillaries (130) extending from the outer surface of the artery to its inner surface such that the vapor space is in fluid communication with the liquid space. In one embodiment of the invention, the capillaries (130) are cylindrical holes having a diameter of no greater than 50 microns. In another embodiment, the capillaries (130') are slots having widths of no greater than 50 microns. A method of making an artery in accordance with the present invention is also disclosed. The method includes providing a solid-walled tube and laser-micromachining a plurality of capillaries into the tube along a longitudinal axis, wherein each capillary has at least one cross-sectional dimension transverse to the longitudinal axis of less than 50 microns

Freeze-Tolerant Condensers

Two condensers designed for use in dissipating heat carried by working fluids feature two-phase, self-adjusting configurations such that their working lengths automatically vary to suit their input power levels and/or heat-sink temperatures. A key advantage of these condensers is that they can function even if the temperatures of their heat sinks fall below the freezing temperatures of their working fluids and the fluids freeze. The condensers can even be restarted from the frozen condition. The top part of the figure depicts the layout of the first condenser. A two-phase (liquid and vapor) condenser/vapor tube is thermally connected to a heat sink typically, a radiatively or convectively cooled metal panel. A single-phase (liquid) condensate-return tube (return artery) is also thermally connected to the heat sink. At intervals along their lengths, the condenser/vapor tube and the return artery are interconnected through porous plugs. This condenser configuration affords tolerance of freezing, variable effective thermal conductance (such that the return temperature remains nearly constant, independently of the ultimate sink temperature), and overall pressure drop smaller than it would be without the porous interconnections. An additional benefit of this configuration is that the condenser can be made to recover from the completely frozen condition either without using heaters, or else with the help of heaters much smaller than would otherwise be needed. The second condenser affords the same advantages and is based on a similar principle, but it has a different configuration that affords improved flow of working fluid, simplified construction, reduced weight, and faster recovery from a frozen condition

Fault-Tolerant Heat Exchanger

A compact, lightweight heat exchanger has been designed to be fault-tolerant in the sense that a single-point leak would not cause mixing of heat-transfer fluids. This particular heat exchanger is intended to be part of the temperature-regulation system for habitable modules of the International Space Station and to function with water and ammonia as the heat-transfer fluids. The basic fault-tolerant design is adaptable to other heat-transfer fluids and heat exchangers for applications in which mixing of heat-transfer fluids would pose toxic, explosive, or other hazards: Examples could include fuel/air heat exchangers for thermal management on aircraft, process heat exchangers in the cryogenic industry, and heat exchangers used in chemical processing. The reason this heat exchanger can tolerate a single-point leak is that the heat-transfer fluids are everywhere separated by a vented volume and at least two seals. The combination of fault tolerance, compactness, and light weight is implemented in a unique heat-exchanger core configuration: Each fluid passage is entirely surrounded by a vented region bridged by solid structures through which heat is conducted between the fluids. Precise, proprietary fabrication techniques make it possible to manufacture the vented regions and heat-conducting structures with very small dimensions to obtain a very large coefficient of heat transfer between the two fluids. A large heat-transfer coefficient favors compact design by making it possible to use a relatively small core for a given heat-transfer rate. Calculations and experiments have shown that in most respects, the fault-tolerant heat exchanger can be expected to equal or exceed the performance of the non-fault-tolerant heat exchanger that it is intended to supplant (see table). The only significant disadvantages are a slight weight penalty and a small decrease in the mass-specific heat transfer

Evidence for the dynamical relevance of relative periodic orbits in turbulence

Despite a long and rich history of scientific investigation, fluid turbulence remains one of the most challenging problems in science and engineering. One of the key outstanding questions concerns the role of coherent structures that describe frequently observed patterns embedded in turbulence. It has been suggested, but not proven, that coherent structures correspond to unstable, recurrent solutions of the governing equations of fluid dynamics. In this thesis, I present the first experimental evidence that three-dimensional turbulent flow mimics the spatial and temporal structure of multiple such solutions episodically but repeatedly. These results provide compelling evidence that coherent structures, grounded in the governing equations, can be harnessed to predict how turbulent flows evolve.Ph.D

A Starting Point for Practitioner Inquiry: A Review of The Reflective Educator’s Guide to Classroom Research

In first part of this essay, I will introduce my discussion of The Reflective Educator’s Guide to Classroom Research by describing my general impressions of the book. Next, I will provide a brief overview of the book and its main ideas. Finally, I will discuss some critical considerations that I believe are worth considering when discussing practitioner inquiry

A Tragedy Exposed? Clear Growth Medium Reveals Competing Roots

Abstract Tragedy of the Commons (ToC) is the exploitation of an open-access resource that is exploited by selfish individuals to the detriment of all. Examples include open sea fisheries, cattle grazing, pollution, deforestation and plants competing over shared soil nutrients and space. Tragically, these resources become depleted and plants become severely resource limited. Our study seeks to determine if a ToC causes two plants sharing resources to reproduce less successfully than two plants owning the equivalent amount of personal resources. We predict that plant root competition creates a ToC by increasing root mass while reducing reproductive mass. Our study uses impermeable barriers to manipulate competition. We used transparent growth medium (Gellan Gum with Hoagland’s nutrient solution) in order to photograph roots as they grew in vivo. Root imaging allowed for computational analysis of root architecture which we expect to respond to the ToC. Our results from root and seed masses revealed no significant effects from competition. This could be explained by excessively high soil nutrient levels. Additionally, we failed to validate the photographic analysis platform (SmartRoot) with a hand measured model. Future direction includes optimizing soil nutrient levels and conducting a better photographic analysis based on multiple circumferential pictures

Integrin-α5β1 is not required for mural cell functions during development of blood vessels but is required for lymphatic-blood vessel separation and lymphovenous valve formation

Integrin α5β1 is essential for vascular development but it remains unclear precisely where and how it functions. Here, we report that deletion of the gene encoding the integrin-α5 subunit (Itga5) using the Pdgfrb-Cre transgenic mouse line, leads to oedema, haemorrhage and increased levels of embryonic lethality. Unexpectedly, these defects were not caused by loss of α5 from Pdgfrb-Cre expressing mural cells (pericytes and vascular smooth muscle cells), which wrap around the endothelium and stabilise blood vessels, nor by defects in the heart or great vessels, but were due to abnormal development of the lymphatic vasculature. Reminiscent of the pathologies seen in the human lymphatic malformation, fetal cystic hygroma, α5 mutants display defects both in the separation of their blood and lymphatic vasculature and in the formation of the lymphovenous valves. As a consequence, α5-deficient mice develop dilated, blood-filled lymphatic vessels and lymphatic capillaries that are ectopically covered with smooth muscle cells. Analysis of the expression of Pdgfrb during lymphatic development suggests that these defects probably arise from loss of α5β1 integrin in subsets of specialised Prox1+Pdgfrb+ venous endothelial cells that are essential for the separation of the jugular lymph sac from the cardinal vein and formation of the lymphovenous valve leaflets.National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (PO1-HL66105)Cell Migration Consortium (GC11451.126452)National Cancer Institute (U.S.) (Koch Institute Support (core) Grant P30- CA14051)Howard Hughes Medical Institut