The Size of the Rental Market and Housing Market Fluctuations

The paper investigates whether the size of the rental market affects house prices fluctuations or the volatility of construction sector activity over the business cycle. For that purpose we construct a database of variables describing the housing sector in a group of twelve initial euro area members and ten other OECD countries over the years 1995-2014 and conduct a series of panel regressions. We find that a developed rental market attenuates fluctuations in the housing sector, especially for the common currency area sample. We claim that differences among monetary union countries in terms of rental market developments can be destabilizing as they might lead to heterogeneous response to common shocks

Symptomy kryzysu globalnego a etyka gospodarcza religii światowych. Analiza porównawcza bankowości islamskiej i bankowości klasycznej w kontekście kryzysu finansowego

This article deals with the issue of Islamic Banking and its differences from the classical, anglo-saxon banking system. It investigates the availability, prices and volatility of Islamic financial instruments during the global financial crisis in comparison to the behavior of similar instruments offered by commercial banks. For this purpose 3 hypothesis, based on conclusions from the state-of-the-art research on Islamic Finance, were tested: (1) because of the prohibition of speculation, high risk aversion and a distinctive form of enterprise financing the equity prices of shariah-compliant firms were less volatile and more stable than other equity prices; (2) the asset portfolio of classical banks were much more riskier than of similar Shariah-compliant banks; (3) the higher level of trust between Islamic financial market participants induced by sharing the same religion, values and the same set of moral and formal rules has reduced in comparison to the classical banking scheme the dry-up of interbank money liquidity caused by the recent financial crisis. The results of the conducted tests indicate that there were no major differences between Shariah-compliant and commercial banks during the recent financial crisis

Symptomy kryzysu globalnego a etyka gospodarcza religii światowych. Analiza porównawcza bankowości islamskiej i bankowości klasycznej w kontekście kryzysu finansowego

This article deals with the issue of Islamic Banking and its differences from the classical, anglo-saxon banking system. It investigates the availability, prices and volatility of Islamic financial instruments during the global financial crisis in comparison to the behavior of similar instruments offered by commercial banks. For this purpose 3 hypothesis, based on conclusions from the state-of-the-art research on Islamic Finance, were tested: (1) because of the prohibition of speculation, high risk aversion and a distinctive form of enterprise financing the equity prices of shariah-compliant firms were less volatile and more stable than other equity prices; (2) the asset portfolio of classical banks were much more riskier than of similar Shariah-compliant banks; (3) the higher level of trust between Islamic financial market participants induced by sharing the same religion, values and the same set of moral and formal rules has reduced in comparison to the classical banking scheme the dry-up of interbank money liquidity caused by the recent financial crisis. The results of the conducted tests indicate that there were no major differences between Shariah-compliant and commercial banks during the recent financial crisis

The differences between the commercial banking system and Islamic Banking in the context of the global financial crisis

This article deals with the issue of Islamic Banking and its differences from the classical, anglo-saxon banking system. It investigates the availability, prices and volatility of Islamic financial instruments during the global financial crisis in comparison to the behavior of similar instruments offered by commercial banks. For this purpose 3 hypothesis, based on conclusions from the state-of-the-art research on Islamic Finance, were tested: (1) because of the prohibition of speculation, high risk aversion and a distinctive form of enterprise financing the equity prices of shariah-compliant firms were less volatile and more stable than other equity prices; (2) the asset portfolio of classical banks were much more riskier than of similar Shariah-compliant banks; (3) the higher level of trust between Islamic financial market participants induced by sharing the same religion, values and the same set of moral and formal rules has reduced in comparison to the classical banking scheme the dry-up of interbank money liquidity caused by the recent financial crisis. The results of the conducted tests indicate that there were no major differences between Shariah-compliant and commercial banks during the recent financial crisis.Islamic Banking; Financial Crisis; Ethics

Wyłaniające się odmiany kapitalizmu w Europie Środkowo-Wschodniej: przegląd badań

The article contains a review of the most representative theoretical and empirical studies on the emerging varieties/models of capitalism in Central Eastern Europe (CEE). A critical appraisal was made of standard and non-standard approaches found in the subject literature. Specific features of the institutional structure existing in the CEE countries have been indicated which make it difficult to apply the theoretical framework used in the developed capitalist countries. Possible directions of further research on the models of capitalism emerging in CEE have also been delineated together with some proposals of modification and extension of the theoretical and methodological framework of this research

Wyłaniające się odmiany kapitalizmu w Europie Środkowo-Wschodniej: przegląd badań

The article contains a review of the most representative theoretical and empirical studies on the emerging varieties/models of capitalism in Central Eastern Europe (CEE). A critical appraisal was made of standard and non-standard approaches found in the subject literature. Specific features of the institutional structure existing in the CEE countries have been indicated which make it difficult to apply the theoretical framework used in the developed capitalist countries. Possible directions of further research on the models of capitalism emerging in CEE have also been delineated together with some proposals of modification and extension of the theoretical and methodological framework of this research

Wyłaniające się modele kapitalizmu w Polsce i krajach Europy Środkowo-Wschodniej na tle Europy Zachodniej

This article presents the results of the study which aims to enrich the empirical picture and to better understand the nature of capitalism emerging in Poland and other new EU member states from Central and Eastern Europe (CEE11). Our main research goal is to assess the degree of similarity of Poland and other CEE11 countries toward each of the four models of capitalism in Western Europe distinguished by Bruno Amable. Each of these models is represented by an “ideal-typical” western European country. At the average level for the whole analyzed group, the CEE11 countries show the greatest similarity to the Mediterranean model of capitalism, represented by Spain/Italy. At the same time, these countries also exhibit quite high institutional proximity to the continental model of capitalism, represented by Germany

Radiopaque FeMnN-Mo composite drawn filled tubing wires for braided absorbable neurovascular devices

Flow diverter devices are small stents used to divert blood flow away from aneurysms in the brain, stagnating flow and inducing intra-aneurysmal thrombosis which in time will prevent aneurysm rupture. Current devices are formed from thin (∼25 μm) wires which will remain in place long after the aneurysm has been mitigated. As their continued presence could lead to secondary complications, an absorbable flow diverter which dissolves into the body after aneurysm occlusion is desirable. The absorbable metals investigated to date struggle to achieve the necessary combination of strength, elasticity, corrosion rate, fragmentation resistance, radiopacity, and biocompatibility. This work proposes and investigates a new composite wire concept combining absorbable iron alloy (FeMnN) shells with one or more pure molybdenum (Mo) cores. Various wire configurations are produced and drawn to 25–250 μm wires. Tensile testing revealed high and tunable mechanical properties on par with existing flow diverter materials. In vitro degradation testing of 100 μm wire in DMEM to 7 days indicated progressive corrosion and cracking of the FeMnN shell but not of the Mo, confirming the cathodic protection of the Mo by the FeMnN and thus mitigation of premature fragmentation risk. In vivo implantation and subsequent μCT of the same wires in mouse aortas to 6 months showed meaningful corrosion had begun in the FeMnN shell but not yet in the Mo filament cores. In total, these results indicate that these composites may offer an ideal combination of properties for absorbable flow diverters

Pan-Cancer Analysis of lncRNA Regulation Supports Their Targeting of Cancer Genes in Each Tumor Context

Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) are commonly dys-regulated in tumors, but only a handful are known toplay pathophysiological roles in cancer. We inferredlncRNAs that dysregulate cancer pathways, onco-genes, and tumor suppressors (cancer genes) bymodeling their effects on the activity of transcriptionfactors, RNA-binding proteins, and microRNAs in5,185 TCGA tumors and 1,019 ENCODE assays.Our predictions included hundreds of candidateonco- and tumor-suppressor lncRNAs (cancerlncRNAs) whose somatic alterations account for thedysregulation of dozens of cancer genes and path-ways in each of 14 tumor contexts. To demonstrateproof of concept, we showed that perturbations tar-geting OIP5-AS1 (an inferred tumor suppressor) andTUG1 and WT1-AS (inferred onco-lncRNAs) dysre-gulated cancer genes and altered proliferation ofbreast and gynecologic cancer cells. Our analysis in-dicates that, although most lncRNAs are dysregu-lated in a tumor-specific manner, some, includingOIP5-AS1, TUG1, NEAT1, MEG3, and TSIX, synergis-tically dysregulate cancer pathways in multiple tumorcontexts

Pan-cancer Alterations of the MYC Oncogene and Its Proximal Network across the Cancer Genome Atlas

Although theMYConcogene has been implicated incancer, a systematic assessment of alterations ofMYC, related transcription factors, and co-regulatoryproteins, forming the proximal MYC network (PMN),across human cancers is lacking. Using computa-tional approaches, we define genomic and proteo-mic features associated with MYC and the PMNacross the 33 cancers of The Cancer Genome Atlas.Pan-cancer, 28% of all samples had at least one ofthe MYC paralogs amplified. In contrast, the MYCantagonists MGA and MNT were the most frequentlymutated or deleted members, proposing a roleas tumor suppressors.MYCalterations were mutu-ally exclusive withPIK3CA,PTEN,APC,orBRAFalterations, suggesting that MYC is a distinct onco-genic driver. Expression analysis revealed MYC-associated pathways in tumor subtypes, such asimmune response and growth factor signaling; chro-matin, translation, and DNA replication/repair wereconserved pan-cancer. This analysis reveals insightsinto MYC biology and is a reference for biomarkersand therapeutics for cancers with alterations ofMYC or the PMN