A history of the asymmetric policy directive

Monetary policy - United States ; Federal Open Market Committee

Channels of monetary policy : conference introduction

Monetary policy - United States ; Liquidity (Economics) ; Monetary policy

Interest rate targets abandoned

Interest rates ; Monetary policy - Japan

Sex-related differences in perception and discrimination of different speakers: An analysis of the auditory dorsal stream via EEG

Growing evidence that speech perception tasks elicit sensorimotor activity, and that this activity varies due to context, sex, cognitive load, and cognitive ability. However, it is unknown as to whether the sex of the speaker and demands of the task differentially effect males and females during speech perception tasks. This study investigated whether speaker sex and task demands (i.e. passive listening or active discrimination) influence sensorimotor and auditory cortical activity in males and females differently. Raw EEG data were collected from 27 males and 29 females during passive listening to, and discrimination of /ba/ and /da/ syllable pairs spoken by a synthetic female or male speaker. Independent component analysis identified sensorimotor and auditory components characterized by alpha/beta and alpha peaks, respectively. Time- frequency decomposition revealed no significant differences between male and female groups in any testing conditions. Within the male group, stronger mu activity was found in active discrimination conditions compared to passive listening in only the left hemisphere, while females displayed stronger activity in both the left and right hemisphere. Auditory cluster activity revealed males utilizing stronger inhibition after stimulus offset in active discrimination conditions, while females showed stronger activation during stimulus presentation in the same conditions. Both males and females displayed stronger mu activation in response to male speakers compared to female speakers before, during, and after stimulus presentation. Given this, it appears that speaker sex does influence at least anterior dorsal stream activity in a similar fashion for both males and females, but task demands differentially alter anterior and posterior dorsal stream activity in each sex group. These findings may at least partially explain the high variability in findings across neuroimaging studies that feature males and females in the same population

Mr Mercury : a biographical study of Edward Baines with special reference to his role as editor, author and politician

This thesis investigates the life and work of Edward Baines, editor of the Leeds Mercury from 1801 to 1848 and Member of Parliament for Leeds from 1834 to 1841. It considers his political, journalistic and literary achievements and it investigates why no authoritative complete study of his life has been carried out since his son's filial biography written in 1851. The thesis examines the confusion which has arisen because Edward Baines Senior and Junior were both journalists editing the Leeds Mercury, both campaigning Dissenters, both Members of Parliament for Leeds and that much of their political and journalistic lives ran concurrently and not consecutively. Consideration is given to Baines's antecedents, his early years and the influences that helped shape his thinking. Baines's philosophy is examined, particularly as it was expressed in both his newspaper editorials and his academic writings. It shows that his fundamental beliefs were rooted in Protestant Christianity and how this was reflected in his views by his opposition to war and slavery, his lifelong support for individual freedom as expressed through Whig-Liberalism and the cause of Nonconformism. The thesis then follows a chronological approach. The years 1801 to 1815 witnessed his campaign on behalf of the merchants and manufacturers of the West Riding and the active political role he adopted from the election of 1807 onwards. The years 1815 to 1829 revealed Baines at the apotheosis of his journalistic career, with the revelations of the Government Spy scandal, his involvement in the campaigns for Parliamentary Reform, the commencement of his literary career and the launch of his strategy to establish a Whig power base in Leeds by taking control of the Parish Church vestry. The years 1830 to 1841 demonstrated Baines as an active politician, becoming the Member for Leeds and using his parliamentary position to campaign for the rights of the Dissenters. His final years 1841 to 1848 showed him still active in politics locally; an examination is also made of his final commitment to evangelical Congregationalism. Primary source material has been used throughout to illustrate Baines, his beliefs and the views his contemporaries held of him. Although few manuscript primary sources are available a considerable amount of printed primary source material is to be found in Baines's books and almost fifty years of his LessisMercury. The newspapers of his opponents, which cover the same period, offer a diverse range of views on the man and these enable a more balanced view of him to be reached than that found in his son's biography

Simulation synergy : expanding TRNSYS capabilities and usability

Developers of simulation packages are now able to take advantage of the increase in available desktop computing power to expand the capabilities and usability of their programs. This paper will illustrate these opportunities by discussing the different techniques the developers of the TRNSYS software package have used to try and create a synergy between TRNSYS and external programs and between the developers and users of the program

A primer on cointegration with an application to money and income

Money theory ; Income ; Cointegration

Financing Social Enterprise in the Very Long Run

All social enterprises share a common struggle to finance collective goods. Collective goods are notoriously difficult for private firms to produce, because of the incentive for their constituents to defect, or free-ride, on the contributions of others. Because of their historical success, this paper looks toward long-lived religions institutions for strategies to mitigate the collective action problem. We empirically examine the Southern Baptist Convention, which records its efforts to finance international missionary activities since 1935. We test a club good model of adherence. Consistent with the club model, we find that contributions to international missions increase with both religious and secular competition for adherents. We do not find that the specific mechanism for collection within the Southern Baptist matters. We conclude that the club model of organization, where high membership costs are deliberately applied, offers valuable – and counterintuitive – lessons for social enterprises more broadly

Structure and Reactivity of Model CeO2surfaces

As a key component in many industrial heterogeneous catalysts, the surface structure and reactivity of ceria, CeO2, has attracted a lot of attention. In this topical review we discuss some of the approaches taken to form a deeper understanding of the surface physics and chemistry of this important and interesting material. In particular, we focus on the preparation of ultrathin ceria films, nanostructures and supported metal nanoparticles. Cutting-edge microscopic and spectroscopic experimental techniques are highlighted which can probe the behaviour of oxygen species and atomic defects on these model surfaces