"The European Central Bank and Why Things Are the Way They Are: A Historic Monetary Policy Pivot Point and Moment of (Relative) Clarity"

Not since the Great Depression have monetary policy matters and institutions weighed so heavily in commercial, financial, and political arenas. Apart from the eurozone crisis and global monetary policy issues, for nearly two years all else has counted for little more than noise on a relative risk basis. In major developed economies, a hypermature secular decline in interest rates is pancaking against a hard, roughly zero lower-rate bound (i.e., barring imposition of rather extreme policies such as a tax on cash holdings, which could conceivably drive rates deeply negative). Relentlessly mounting aggregate debt loads are rendering monetary- and fiscal policy-impaired governments and segments of society insolvent and struggling to escape liquidity quicksands and stubbornly low or negative growth and employment trends. At the center of the current crisis is the European Monetary Union (EMU)-a monetary union lacking fiscal and political integration. Such partial integration limits policy alternatives relative to either full federal integration of member-states or no integration at all. As we have witnessed since spring 2008, this operationally constrained middle ground progressively magnifies economic divergence and political and social discord across member-states. Given the scale and scope of the eurozone crisis, policy and actions taken (or not taken) by the European Central Bank (ECB) meaningfully impact markets large and small, and ripple with force through every major monetary policy domain. History, for the moment, has rendered the ECB the world's most important monetary policy pivot point. Since November 2011, the ECB has taken on an arguably activist liquidity-provider role relative to private banks (and, in some important measure, indirectly to sovereigns) while maintaining its long-held post as rhetorical promoter of staunch fiscal discipline relative to sovereignty-encased "peripheral" states lacking full monetary and fiscal integration. In December 2011, the ECB made clear its intention to inject massive liquidity when faced with crises of scale in future. Already demonstratively disposed toward easing due to conditions on their respective domestic fronts, other major central banks have mobilized since the third quarter of 2011. The collective global central banking policy posture has thus become more homogenized, synchronized, and directionally clear than at any time since early 2009.Eurozone; Monetary Policy; Fiscal Policy; European Central Bank; European Monetary Union; Debt Monetization; Euro; Basel; Sovereign Debt; Credit Default Swaps; Liquidity; Solvency; Deleveraging; LTRO

Impacts of the Crisis on Access to Healthcare Services in the EU

[Excerpt] This report is the first output of Eurofound’s research project on the impacts of the recent financial and economic crisis on access to publicly financed healthcare services in the EU. It aims to provide an overview of context and developments, setting the scene for the ongoing research project. A final overview report, incorporating findings from various country studies, will be published in 2014. Following a description of the policy context, this report goes on to explore how the crisis has impacted demand for and supply of healthcare services. It characterises different dimensions of access and discusses how the crisis may have impacted on barriers to access. It highlights groups that have traditionally been in vulnerable situations with regard to access, as well as those that may have been particularly affected by the crisis. Examples of past initiatives that have sought to enhance access to healthcare are identified. The final section presents how this research project aims to improve understanding of the impacts of the crisis on access to healthcare and of the ways in which access may be maintained. This report takes a broad perspective on access to healthcare services, referring to different understandings of access and various indicators. It draws on a review of the literature and primary data analysis. One key indicator concerns people’s perceptions of difficulties they face in accessing a doctor; in this regard, data are analysed from Eurofound’s 2007 and 2011 European Quality of Life Surveys (EQLS). A second key indicator concerns people’s perceptions of not having received medical care when they felt they needed it. Here, the main source of data is the ‘EU Statistics on Income and Living Conditions’ (EU-SILC). These indicators are used to explore how access has changed since the onset of the crisis in autumn 2007. Other perspectives on access are also discussed, including for example legal entitlements and views on appropriate care provision by service providers. Sources of data include complaints to the Ombudsman and surveys of general practitioners (GPs). The forthcoming overview report will expand on such sources, and will include more in-depth information from studies of specific countries

\u3ci\u3eGomphus Spicatus\u3c/i\u3e (Odonata: Gomphidae) Rediscovered in Illinois and \u3ci\u3eLibellula Semifasciata\u3c/i\u3e (Odonata: Libellulidae) Recorded Near Wisconsin

(excerpt) Gomphus spicatus Hagen (Odonata: Gomphidae), commonly called dusky clubtail, is a common and widely distributed dragonfly in a variety of ponds, lakes, and slow streams throughout its range in the north-eastern and northcentral United States and adjacent areas of southern Canada (Donnelly 2004)

How Did E. M. Walker Measure the Length of the Labium of Nymphs of \u3ci\u3eAeshna\u3c/i\u3e and \u3ci\u3eRhionaeschna\u3c/i\u3e (Odonata: Aeshnidae)?

The exhaustive studies of nymphs of Aeshna Fabricius and Rhionaeschna Förster by E. M. Walker (1912-1958) have long guided the taxonomy of these groups and formed the basis for keys still in use today. However, uncertainty about how he measured the length of the labium, including the varied terminology he used over the duration of his career concerning this structure, has led to confusion about application of his taxonomic recommendations. We recalculated ratios of the maximum width/length [W(max)/L] by measuring the illustration dimensions of folded labia and prementums in publications throughout his career and compared these data with the ratios he stated in those publications and with ratios derived from measurements of specimens in our collections. Our results show that from 1912 to 1941, Walker restricted length measurement to the prementum proper (which he called the “mentum of the labium”), exclusive of the ventrally visible portion of the postmental hinge. However, in 1941 he reported ratios from length measurements done two ways, excluding the postmental hinge in his description of the nymph of A. verticalis Hagen, but including the hinge in his description of the nymph of A. septentrionalis Burmeister (Whitehouse 1941). In Walker’s most recent and influential work (1958), he included the postmental hinge in labium length measurements of nine species, but restricted length measurements to the prementum for five others. He was consistent with the use of terms, using both “folded labium” by which he meant the prementum plus the postmental hinge, and “prementum” by which he meant only that structure. However, Walker’s descriptions of the labium in his latest work are buried in long, frequently punctuated sentences that for most species include the terms “folded labium” and “prementum” in the same sentence, so careful reading is required to know which term is intended in the width/length ratio. Width/length ratios we each calculated independently were invariably similar for a given species and were usually similar to Walker’s stated ratio for that species. These similarities affirm our conclusion that while labium measurements must be done with care, they are closely repeatable among workers and will consistently lead to correct determinations in properly designed couplets of dichotomous keys to these genera. We recommend measuring the length of the prementum proper in future studies of these genera when labium ratios are calculated because we found less variability in those cases than when the measurements included the postmental hinge. An approximate conversion between the two methods of calculating W(max)/L ratios can be made as follows: ratio calculated when the length of the prementum excluding the postmental hinge is used x 0.88 is approximately equal to the ratio when the postmental hinge is included for species of Aeshna and Rhionaeschna in North America

Seasonal Drift of \u3ci\u3eLethocerus Americanus\u3c/i\u3e (Hemiptera: Belostomatidae) in a Lake Superior Tributary

Drifting adult Lethocerus americanus were captured and retained by an inclined-screen smolt trap during two field seasons in the Bois Brule River, Wisconsin. Seasonal peaks of drift occurred in spring for 4 weeks following ice out and in autumn for 7 -8 weeks from mid-September through ice formation, and may have continued under ice cover when our gear was not operated. These findings are consistent with the known movement pattern of these insects to fly from lentic habitats to streams to overwinter but also suggest longitudinal movement via drift, perhaps to reach specific overwintering sites. Drift was significantly correlated with declining water temperatures in 1989 but not in 1990. Most drift occurred at water temperatures less than 12°C. There was no correlation between drift and river discharge. Drift rates were consistently low with a maximum by volume of 9 animals per 10,000 m3

\u3ci\u3eAeshna Subarctica\u3c/i\u3e (Odonata: Aeshnidae) in Northwestern Wisconsin

Nine adult specimens of Aeshna subarctica, a boreal dragonfly typically associated with muskeg wetlands, were collected from Black Lake and Breitzman Lake in northwestern Wisconsin (Douglas County). Viable populations likely exist in both lakes. Oviposition by three females is described. This represents the first published report of A. subarctica for the state of Wisconsin. Because Black Lake lies on the border of Wisconsin and Minnesota, A. subarctica likely occurs in Minnesota as well. Further sampling of acidic peatland habitats for aquatic macroinvertebrates is recommended to document populations of northern at the southern periphery of their ranges. These could function as indicators of climate change

The European Central Bank and why things are the way they are: A historic monetary policy pivot point and moment of (relative) clarity

Not since the Great Depression have monetary policy matters and institutions weighed so heavily in commercial, financial, and political arenas. Apart from the eurozone crisis and global monetary policy issues, for nearly two years all else has counted for little more than noise on a relative risk basis. In major developed economies, a hypermature secular decline in interest rates is pancaking against a hard, roughly zero lower-rate bound (i.e., barring imposition of rather extreme policies such as a tax on cash holdings, which could conceivably drive rates deeply negative). Relentlessly mounting aggregate debt loads are rendering monetary- and fiscal policy-impaired governments and segments of society insolvent and struggling to escape liquidity quicksands and stubbornly low or negative growth and employment trends. At the center of the current crisis is the European Monetary Union (EMU) - a monetary union lacking fiscal and political integration. Such partial integration limits policy alternatives relative to either full federal integration of member-states or no integration at all. As we have witnessed since spring 2008, this operationally constrained middle ground progressively magnifies economic divergence and political and social discord across member-states. Given the scale and scope of the eurozone crisis, policy and actions taken (or not taken) by the European Central Bank (ECB) meaningfully impact markets large and small, and ripple with force through every major monetary policy domain. History, for the moment, has rendered the ECB the world’s most important monetary policy pivot point. Since November 2011, the ECB has taken on an arguably activist liquidity-provider role relative to private banks (and, in some important measure, indirectly to sovereigns) while maintaining its long-held post as 'rhetorical' promoter of staunch fiscal discipline relative to sovereignty-encased 'peripheral' states lacking full monetary and fiscal integration. In December 2011, the ECB made clear its intention to inject massive liquidity when faced with crises of scale in future. Already demonstratively disposed toward easing due to conditions on their respective domestic fronts, other major central banks have mobilized since the third quarter of 2011. The collective global central banking policy posture has thus become more homogenized, synchronized, and directionally clear than at any time since early 2009

Testing of a ZedBoard-Based System for EIT Image Reconstruction

Improvements in Electrical Impedance Tomography (EIT) are discussed: first, the extension of our current real-time EIT system to allow for multiple shapes by post-hoc estimation of the image, then the prospect of taking images of a static material, but with the homogeneous and inhomogeneous data taken at two different frequencies. Images with various shapes are produced and shown; the impracticality of using multiple frequency imaging with the current EIT system is also shown. Multiple frequency images are produced with a different, non-real-time system. In addition, the procedure for producing the phantom test material is discussed

Aids given to beginning teachers in Rhode Island: their source and their usefulness.

Thesis (Ed.M.)--Boston Universit