Money and Price Posting under Private Information

We study price posting with undirected search in a search-theoretic monetary model with divisible money and divisible goods. Ex ante homogeneous buyers experience match specific preference shocks in bilateral trades. The shocks follow a continuous distribution and the realization of the shocks is private information. We show that generically there exists a unique price posting monetary equilibrium. In equilibrium, each seller posts a continuous pricing schedule that exhibits quantity discounts. Buyers spend only when they have high enough preferences. As their preferences are higher, they spend more till they become cash constrained. Since inflation reduces the future purchasing power of money and the value of retaining money, buyers tend to spend their money faster in response to higher inflation. In particular, more buyers choose to spend money and buyers spend on average a higher fraction of their money. The model naturally captures the hot potato effect of inflation along both the intensive margin and the extensive margin.Economic models; Inflation and prices

Magic wavelengths for the 6s^2\,^1S_0-6s6p\,^3P_1^o transition in ytterbium atom

The static and dynamic electric-dipole polarizabilities of the 6s^2\,^1S_0 and 6s6p\,^3P_1^o states of Yb are calculated by using the relativistic ab initio method. Focusing on the red detuning region to the 6s^2\,^1S_0-6s6p\,^3P_1^o transition, we find two magic wavelengths at 1035.7(2) nm and 612.9(2) nm for the 6s^2\,^1S_0-6s6p\,^3P_1^o, M_J=0 transition and three magic wavelengthes at 1517.68(6) nm, 1036.0(3) nm and 858(12) nm for the 6s^2\,^1S_0-6s6p\,^3P_1^o, M_J=\pm1 transitions. Such magic wavelengths are of particular interest for attaining the state-insensitive cooling, trapping, and quantum manipulation of neutral Yb atom.Comment: 13 pages, 3 figure

Tako-tsubo cardiomyopathy after a quarrel.

Objective: To report a case of Tako-tsubo cardiomyopathy in a blind woman.Case presentation: We report a confirmed case of Tako-tsubo cardiomyopathy in a 55-year-old blind woman with past medical history of ocular trauma. The patient suffered from sudden chest pain after a quarrel. Transthoracic echocardiogram (TTE) showed regional wall motion abnormalities. Coronary angiogram showed no significant coronary stenosis, but ventriculogram demonstrated apical ballooning akinesis and hypercontraction in the basal segments. The follow-up TTE revealed a recovery of systolic function 6 weeks later.Conclusion: We report a case of Tako-tsubo cardiomyopathy after a quarrel, implicating that severe emotional or physical stress could trigger myocardial stunning.Keywords: Tako-tsubo cardiomyopathy, ocular trauma, blindness, postmenopaus

One or Two Monies?

We investigate whether money constitutes a perfect substitute for the missing record-keeping technology in a quasi-linear environment, where private information and limited commitment are present. We adopt the mechanism design approach and solve a social planner�s problem subject to the resource constraint, the incentive constraints imposed by the existing frictions, and the available memory technologies. The result is that when money is divisible, concealable and in variable supply, a single money may or may not be su¢ cient to replace the record-keeping technology. We further show that two monies serve as a perfect substitute for the record-keeping technology so that there is no need for a third money

Prediction of large esophageal varices in cirrhotic patients using classification and regression tree analysis

OBJECTIVES: Recent guidelines recommend that all cirrhotic patients should undergo endoscopic screening for esophageal varices. That identifying cirrhotic patients with esophageal varices by noninvasive predictors would allow for the restriction of the performance of endoscopy to patients with a high risk of having varices. This study aimed to develop a decision model based on classification and regression tree analysis for the prediction of large esophageal varices in cirrhotic patients. METHODS: 309 cirrhotic patients (training sample, 187 patients; test sample 122 patients) were included. Within the training sample, the classification and regression tree analysis was used to identify predictors and prediction model of large esophageal varices. The prediction model was then further evaluated in the test sample and different Child-Pugh classes. RESULTS: The prevalence of large esophageal varices in cirrhotic patients was 50.8%. A tree model that was consisted of spleen width, portal vein diameter and prothrombin time was developed by classification and regression tree analysis achieved a diagnostic accuracy of 84% for prediction of large esophageal varices. When reconstructed into two groups, the rate of varices was 83.2% for high-risk group and 15.2% for low-risk group. Accuracy of the tree model was maintained in the test sample and different Child-Pugh classes. CONCLUSIONS: A decision tree model that consists of spleen width, portal vein diameter and prothrombin time may be useful for prediction of large esophageal varices in cirrhotic patient

Optimization of Liquid-Crystal Spatial Light Modulator for Precise Phase Generation

Spatial light modulators (SLMs) are recently emerging as wavefront generation or reconstruction devices. In this paper, we use a liquid-crystal SLM (LC-SLM) as a wavefront generation device through the modulation of the spatial phase distribution of an incident light beam. We characterize the phase modulation performance of the LC-SLM, and identified a polarization-configuration to minimize its amplitude modulation effects in order to maximize the contrast of reconstructed phase holograms. We also investigated the feasibility of determining the optical surface uniformity of the LC-SLM through computations of the interference fringes, and identified the disadvantages of this method. This new approach may be used to determine the optical surface quality of other optical devices

Arsenic transformation behaviour during thermal decomposition of P. vittata, an arsenic hyperaccumulator

Thermal treatment of P. vittata, an arsenic hyperaccumulator harvested from contaminated land is a promising method of achieving volume reduction, energy production and arsenic (As) recovery simultaneously. In this paper, the arsenic transformation characteristics of field-harvested P. vittata were investigated during its pyrolysis and gasification process. The produced solid residue and flue gas were analysed by a high performance liquid chromatography coupled with inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (HPLC-ICP-MS) to determine both the arsenic concentration and speciation. Moreover, the occurrence of arsenic in the solid residues was further identified as soluble and insoluble, which can feed information to the next arsenic recovery step. Results show that the fuel arsenic into gas phase increases firstly from 400 °C to 600 °C, but then drops from 600 °C to 800 °C, probably due to the self-retention of arsenic by CaO enriched in this P. vittata. Further increasing temperature to 900 °C will result in fast arsenic release. Gasification results in slightly higher arsenic release into the gas phase compared with pyrolysi

Deficiency of Mkrn2 causes abnormal spermiogenesis and spermiation, and impairs male fertility.

Although recent studies have shed insights on some of the potential causes of male infertility, new underlining molecular mechanisms still remain to be elucidated. Makorin-2 (Mkrn2) is an evolutionarily conserved gene whose biological functions are not fully known. We developed an Mrkn2 knockout mouse model to study the role of this gene, and found that deletion of Mkrn2 in mice led to male infertility. Mkrn2 knockout mice produced abnormal sperms characterized by low number, poor motility, and aberrant morphology. Disruption of Mkrn2 also caused failure of sperm release (spermiation failure) and misarrangement of ectoplasmic specialization (ES) in testes, thus impairing spermiogenesis and spermiation. To understand the molecular mechanism, we found that expression of Odf2, a vital protein in spermatogenesis, was significantly decreased. In addition, we found that expression levels of Odf2 were decreased in Mkrn2 knockout mice. We also found that MKRN2 was prominently expressed in the sperm of normal men, but was significantly reduced in infertile men. This result indicates that our finding is clinically relevant. The results of our study provided insights into a new mechanism of male infertility caused by the MKRN2 downregulation