357 research outputs found
Money, Sticky Wages, and the Great Depression
This paper examines the ability of a simple stylized general equilibrium model that incorporates nominal wage rigidity to explain the magnitude and persistence of the Great Depression in the United States. The impulses to our analysis are money supply shocks. The Taylor contracts model is surprisingly successful in accounting for the behavior of major macroaggregates and real wages during the downturn phase of the Depression, i.e., from 1929:3 through mid-1933. Our analysis provides support for the hypothesis that a monetary contraction operating through a sticky wage channel played a significant role in accounting for the downturn, and also provides an interesting refinement to this explanation. In particular, both the absolute severity of the Depression's downturn and its relative severity compared to the 1920-21 recession are likely attributable to the price decline having a much larger unanticipated component during the Depression, as well as less flexible wage-setting practices during this latter period. Another finding casts doubt on explanations for the 1933-36 recovery that rely heavily on the substantial remonetization that began in 1933.
LOFAR Deep Fields: Probing faint Galactic polarised emission in ELAIS-N1
We present the first deep polarimetric study of Galactic synchrotron emission
at low radio frequencies. Our study is based on 21 observations of the European
Large Area Infrared Space Observatory Survey-North 1 (ELAIS-N1) field using the
Low-Frequency Array (LOFAR) at frequencies from 114.9 to 177.4 MHz. These data
are a part of the LOFAR Two-metre Sky Survey Deep Fields Data Release 1. We
used very low-resolution () Stokes QU data cubes of this release. We
applied rotation measure (RM) synthesis to decompose the distribution of
polarised structures in Faraday depth, and cross-correlation RM synthesis to
align different observations in Faraday depth. We stacked images of about 150
hours of the ELAIS-N1 observations to produce the deepest Faraday cube at low
radio frequencies to date, tailored to studies of Galactic synchrotron emission
and the intervening magneto-ionic interstellar medium. This Faraday cube covers
of the sky and has a noise of in polarised intensity. This is an improvement in noise
by a factor of approximately the square root of the number of stacked data
cubes (), as expected, compared to the one in a single data cube
based on five-to-eight-hour observations. We detect a faint component of
diffuse polarised emission in the stacked cube, which was not detected
previously. Additionally, we verify the reliability of the ionospheric Faraday
rotation corrections estimated from the satellite-based total electron content
measurements to be of . We also demonstrate that
diffuse polarised emission itself can be used to account for the relative
ionospheric Faraday rotation corrections with respect to a reference
observation.Comment: 15 pages, 15 figures, accepted for publication in A&
Modification of conservative treatment of heterotopic cervical pregnancy by Foley catheter balloon fixation with cerclage sutures at the level of the external cervical os: a case report
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Introduction</p> <p>Conservative treatment of a heterotopic cervical pregnancy was performed with a modification of the fixation of a Foley catheter at the level of the external cervical os, followed by the ligature of the descending cervical branches of the uterine arteries and systemic methotrexate application.</p> <p>Case presentation</p> <p>A 34-year-old Caucasian woman was diagnosed with double gestation after 6 weeks of <it>in vitro </it>fertilization treatment. A gynecological examination and color Doppler ultrasound scan revealed intra-uterine and cervical gestational sacs both containing live fetuses. A Foley catheter balloon was inserted into the cervical canal, inflated and fixed by a cerclage suture at the level of the external cervical os, followed by ligation of the descending cervical branches of the uterine arteries. Systemic methotrexate was applied. Three days after removal of the Foley catheter, an evacuation of the intra-uterine gestational sac was performed. Hemorrhage from the implantation site was controlled immediately and a pregnancy termination was successfully performed. The procedure was uneventful and our patient was discharged with a preserved uterus.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Conservative treatment of cervical pregnancy using a Foley catheter balloon is more efficacious if the Foley catheter balloon is attached in the correct position with a cerclage suture at the level of the external os, followed by ligation of the descending cervical branches of the uterine arteries, thereby exerting maximal pressure on the bleeding vessels.</p
Flexible Prices, Labor Market Frictions, and the Response of Employment to Technology Shocks
Recent empirical evidence establishes that a positive technology shock leads to a decline in labor inputs. Can a flexible price model enriched with labor market frictions replicate this stylized fact? We develop and estimate a standard flexible price model using Bayesian methods that allows, but does not require, labor market frictions to generate a negative response of employment to a technology shock. We find that labor market frictions account for the fall in labor inputs
The New Keynesian business cycle achievements and challenges
The New-Keynesian (NK) business cycle model has presented itself as a potential “workhorse” model for business cycle analysis. This paper seeks to assess afresh the performance of the baseline NK model and its various extensions. The main theme of the paper is that although the dynamic NK literature has secured a robust defence to criticism arising, inter alia, on account of lack of microfoundations, it still has a long way to go in terms of providing a fully satisfactory model of the business cycle. In this regard, it is conjectured that explicitly accounting for the role of heterogeneity in business- cycle dynamics could lead towards a viable solution.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
The potential risks and impact of the start of the 2015–2016 influenza season in the WHO European Region: a rapid risk assessment
Background: Countries in the World Health Organization (WHO) European Region are reporting more severe influenza activity in the 2015–2016 season compared to previous seasons. Objectives: To conduct a rapid risk assessment to provide interim information on the severity of the current influenza season. Methods: Using the WHO manual for rapid risk assessment of acute public health events and surveillance data available from Flu News Europe, an assessment of the current influenza season from 28 September 2015 (week 40/2015) up to 31 January 2016 (week 04/2016) was made compared with the four previous seasons. Results: The current influenza season started around week 51/2015 with higher influenza activity reported in Eastern Europe compared to Western Europe. There is a strong predominance of influenza A(H1N1)pdm09 compared to previous seasons, but the virus is antigenically similar to the strain included in the seasonal influenza vaccine. Compared to the 2014/2015 season, there was a rapid increase in the number of severe cases in Eastern European countries with the majority of such cases occurring among adults aged < 65 years. Conclusions: The current influenza season is characterized by an early start in Eastern European countries, with indications of a more severe season. Currently circulating influenza A(H1N1)pdm09 viruses are antigenically similar to those included in the seasonal influenza vaccine, and the vaccine is expected to be effective. Authorities should provide information to the public and health providers about the current influenza season, recommendations for the treatment of severe disease and effective public health measures to prevent influenza transmission
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