O Redutor Keynesiano

The Keynesian expenditure multiplier is commonly viewed as a mechanism that amplifies expansionary fiscal or monetary policy. Once the assumptions on which the multiplier rests are applied to the classical quantity equation, however, it becomes obvious that the Keynesian multiplier is by far more pessimistic in this regard than the quantity equation. In light of this comparison, it makes much more sense to speak of the Keynesian “diminisher” than of the “multiplier.” The reason for the pessimistic bias of the multiplier can best be detected if the distinction is made between a one-time expansionary policy measure and a permanent one. It is only because of this pessimistic bias that the Keynesian “multiplier” can be used to justify permanent government spending programs.El multiplicador keynesiano del gasto se considera comúnmente un mecanismo que amplifica la política fiscal o monetaria expansiva. Sin embargo, una vez que los supuestos en los que se basa el multiplicador se aplican a la clásica ecuación cuantitativa, resulta evidente que el multiplicador keynesiano es mucho más pesimista a este respecto que la ecuación cuantitativa. A la luz de esta comparación, tiene mucho más sentido hablar del "disminuidor" keynesiano que del "multiplicador". La razón del sesgo pesimista del multiplicador puede detectarse mejor si se hace la distinción entre una medida de política expansiva de una sola vez y una permanente. Es sólo por este sesgo pesimista que el "multiplicador" keynesiano puede ser usado para justificar programas de gasto gubernamental permanentes.O multiplicador de gastos keynesiano é comumente visto como um mecanismo que amplifica a política fiscal ou monetária expansionista. Uma vez que as suposições nas quais o multiplicador se baseia são aplicadas à equação quantitativa clássica, no entanto, torna-se óbvio que o multiplicador keynesiano é muito mais pessimista a esse respeito do que a equação quantitativa. À luz dessa comparação, faz muito mais sentido falar do “diminuidor” keynesiano do que do “multiplicador”. A razão para o viés pessimista do multiplicador pode ser mais bem detectada se for feita a distinção entre uma medida de política expansionista pontual e uma permanente. É apenas por causa desse viés pessimista que o “multiplicador” keynesiano pode ser usado para justificar programas de gastos permanentes do governo

The Theory of Capital as a Theory of Capitalism: Hidden Austrian Contributions to a Historically Specific Approach to Capital

Before economists and sociologists came up with their own definitions of the term "capital", it was commonly understood as money invested in businesses by their owners or shareholders, and it continues to be understood this way in everyday business practice. In a recent article, Geoffrey Hodgson (2014) advises economists to return to this pre-Smithian usage of the term. The present paper takes up Hodgson's demand and develops a theory of capital that is based upon this business notion of capital. It also argues that the Austrian theory of capital, if interpreted correctly, can serve as a starting point. Despite the conviction of its adherents to the contrary, the Austrian theory of capital is not universal or ahistorical, but dovetails with Hodgson's vision of an approach to capital which analyses historically specific features of capitalism

The Rise and Fall of the Subsistence Fund as a Resource Constraint in Austrian Business Cycle Theory

The “subsistence fund” was once an integral part of Austrian business cycle theory to indicate the resource constraint on the ability to complete investments. Early agrarian and industrial economies were constrained by resource availability in a manner consistent with that alluded to by the subsistence fund. This link became more tenuous as the growth of the financial economy in the 20th century removed the apparent importance of pre-saved goods to complete investments. At this point the subsistence fund came to be used only as a metaphor and was jettisoned from Austrian business cycle theory. The present paper points to the merits of the subsistence fund in explaining the turning point of the business cycle as compared to alternative explanations. It also works out the deficiencies in historical expositions of the Austrian theory based on the subsistence fund, and traces the evolution of the resource constraint at the core of Austrian economists´ treatment of the business cycle

The Rise and Fall of the Subsistence Fund as a Resource Constraint in Austrian Business Cycle Theory

The “subsistence fund” was once an integral part of Austrian business cycle theory to indicate the resource constraint on the ability to complete investments. Early agrarian and industrial economies were constrained by resource availability in a manner consistent with that alluded to by the subsistence fund. This link became more tenuous as the growth of the financial economy in the 20th century removed the apparent importance of pre-saved goods to complete investments. At this point the subsistence fund came to be used only as a metaphor and was jettisoned from Austrian business cycle theory. The present paper points to the merits of the subsistence fund in explaining the turning point of the business cycle as compared to alternative explanations. It also works out the deficiencies in historical expositions of the Austrian theory based on the subsistence fund, and traces the evolution of the resource constraint at the core of Austrian economists´ treatment of the business cycle

Rabbit neurospheres as a novel in vitro tool for studying neurodevelopmental effects induced by intrauterine growth restriction

The aim of this study was to develop a rabbit neurosphere culture to characterize differences in basic processes of neurogenesis induced by intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR). A novel in vitro neurosphere culture has been established using fresh or frozen neural progenitor cells from newborn (PND0) rabbit brains. After surgical IUGR induction in pregnant rabbits and cesarean section 5 days later, neural progenitor cells from both control and IUGR groups were isolated and directly cultured or frozen at −80°C. These neural progenitor cells spontaneously formed neurospheres after 7 days in culture. The ability of control and IUGR neurospheres to migrate, proliferate, differentiate to neurons, astrocytes, or oligodendrocytes was compared and the possibility to modulate their responses was tested by exposure to several positive and negative controls. Neurospheres obtained from IUGR brains have a significant impairment in oligodendrocyte differentiation, whereas no significant differences are observed in other basic processes of neurogenesis. This impairment can be reverted by in vitro exposure of IUGR neurospheres to thyroid hormone, which is known to play an essential role in white matter maturation in vivo. Our new rabbit neurosphere model and the results of this study open the possibility to test several substances in vitro as neuroprotective candidates against IUGR induced neurodevelopmental damage while decreasing the number of animals and resources and allowing a more mechanistic approach at a cellular functional level

Novel drug targets in cell wall biosynthesis exploited by gene disruption in Pseudomonas aeruginosa

This study demonstrates that cell wall targets contribute significantly to intracellular survival, in vivo growth, and pathogenesis of P. aeruginosa. In conclusion, these findings establish a link between cell wall targets and virulence of P. aeruginosa and thus may lead to development of novel drugs for the treatment of P. aeruginosa infection

Poverty, dirt, infections and non-atopic wheezing in children from a Brazilian urban center

BACKGROUND: The causation of asthma is poorly understood. Risk factors for atopic and non-atopic asthma may be different. This study aimed to analyze the associations between markers of poverty, dirt and infections and wheezing in atopic and non-atopic children. METHODS: 1445 children were recruited from a population-based cohort in Salvador, Brazil. Wheezing was assessed using the ISAAC questionnaire and atopy defined as allergen-specific IgE ≥ 0.70 kU/L. Relevant social factors, environmental exposures and serological markers for childhood infections were investigated as risk factors using multivariate multinomial logistic regression. RESULTS: Common risk factors for wheezing in atopic and non-atopic children, respectively, were parental asthma and respiratory infection in early childhood. No other factor was associated with wheezing in atopic children. Factors associated with wheezing in non-atopics were low maternal educational level (OR 1.49, 95% CI 0.98-2.38), low frequency of room cleaning (OR 2.49, 95% CI 1.27-4.90), presence of rodents in the house (OR 1.48, 95% CI 1.06-2.09), and day care attendance (OR 1.52, 95% CI 1.01-2.29). CONCLUSIONS: Non-atopic wheezing was associated with risk factors indicative of poverty, dirt and infections. Further research is required to more precisely define the mediating exposures and the mechanisms by which they may cause non-atopic wheeze

Induction of the GABA Cell Phenotype: An In Vitro Model for Studying Neurodevelopmental Disorders

Recent studies of the hippocampus have suggested that a network of genes is associated with the regulation of the GAD67 (GAD1) expression and may play a role in γ-amino butyric acid (GABA) dysfunction in schizophrenia (SZ) and bipolar disorder (BD). To obtain a more detailed understanding of how GAD67 regulation may result in GABAergic dysfunction, we have developed an in vitro model in which GABA cells are differentiated from the hippocampal precursor cell line, HiB5. Growth factors, such as PDGF, and BDNF, regulate the GABA phenotype by inducing the expression of GAD67 and stimulating the growth of cellular processes, many with growth cones that form appositions with the cell bodies and processes of other GAD67-positive cells. These changes are associated with increased expression of acetylated tubulin, microtubule-associated protein 2 (MAP2) and the post-synaptic density protein 95 (PSD95). The addition of BDNF, together with PDGF, increases the levels of mRNA and protein for GAD67, as well as the high affinity GABA uptake protein, GAT1. These changes are associated with increased concentrations of GABA in the cytoplasm of “differentiated” HiB5 neurons. In the presence of Ca2+ and K+, newly synthesized GABA is released extracellularly. When the HiB5 cells appear to be fully differentiated, they also express GAD65, parvalbumin and calbindin, and GluR subtypes as well as HDAC1, DAXX, PAX5, Runx2, associated with GAD67 regulation. Overall, these results suggest that the HiB5 cells can differentiate into functionally mature GABA neurons in the presence of gene products that are associated with GAD67 regulation in the adult hippocampus

Altimetry for the future: Building on 25 years of progress

In 2018 we celebrated 25 years of development of radar altimetry, and the progress achieved by this methodology in the fields of global and coastal oceanography, hydrology, geodesy and cryospheric sciences. Many symbolic major events have celebrated these developments, e.g., in Venice, Italy, the 15th (2006) and 20th (2012) years of progress and more recently, in 2018, in Ponta Delgada, Portugal, 25 Years of Progress in Radar Altimetry. On this latter occasion it was decided to collect contributions of scientists, engineers and managers involved in the worldwide altimetry community to depict the state of altimetry and propose recommendations for the altimetry of the future. This paper summarizes contributions and recommendations that were collected and provides guidance for future mission design, research activities, and sustainable operational radar altimetry data exploitation. Recommendations provided are fundamental for optimizing further scientific and operational advances of oceanographic observations by altimetry, including requirements for spatial and temporal resolution of altimetric measurements, their accuracy and continuity. There are also new challenges and new openings mentioned in the paper that are particularly crucial for observations at higher latitudes, for coastal oceanography, for cryospheric studies and for hydrology. The paper starts with a general introduction followed by a section on Earth System Science including Ocean Dynamics, Sea Level, the Coastal Ocean, Hydrology, the Cryosphere and Polar Oceans and the ‘‘Green” Ocean, extending the frontier from biogeochemistry to marine ecology. Applications are described in a subsequent section, which covers Operational Oceanography, Weather, Hurricane Wave and Wind Forecasting, Climate projection. Instruments’ development and satellite missions’ evolutions are described in a fourth section. A fifth section covers the key observations that altimeters provide and their potential complements, from other Earth observation measurements to in situ data. Section 6 identifies the data and methods and provides some accuracy and resolution requirements for the wet tropospheric correction, the orbit and other geodetic requirements, the Mean Sea Surface, Geoid and Mean Dynamic Topography, Calibration and Validation, data accuracy, data access and handling (including the DUACS system). Section 7 brings a transversal view on scales, integration, artificial intelligence, and capacity building (education and training). Section 8 reviews the programmatic issues followed by a conclusion

Multidifferential study of identified charged hadron distributions in ZZ-tagged jets in proton-proton collisions at s=\sqrt{s}=13 TeV

Jet fragmentation functions are measured for the first time in proton-proton collisions for charged pions, kaons, and protons within jets recoiling against a $Z$ boson. The charged-hadron distributions are studied longitudinally and transversely to the jet direction for jets with transverse momentum 20 $< p_{\textrm{T}} < 100$ GeV and in the pseudorapidity range $2.5 < \eta < 4$. The data sample was collected with the LHCb experiment at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 1.64 fb$^{-1}$. Triple differential distributions as a function of the hadron longitudinal momentum fraction, hadron transverse momentum, and jet transverse momentum are also measured for the first time. This helps constrain transverse-momentum-dependent fragmentation functions. Differences in the shapes and magnitudes of the measured distributions for the different hadron species provide insights into the hadronization process for jets predominantly initiated by light quarks.Comment: All figures and tables, along with machine-readable versions and any supplementary material and additional information, are available at https://cern.ch/lhcbproject/Publications/p/LHCb-PAPER-2022-013.html (LHCb public pages