Regulation and Banking after the Crisis

The Central Bank of Ireland and SUERF organised a joint conference in Dublin on 20th September, 2010 on the general theme of Regulation and Banking after the Crisis. In the best traditions of SUERF, the programme included papers and presentations from the three main constituencies of SUERF: Central Banks (including notably the Governor of the Central Bank of Ireland), academics, and financial practitioners. As always, the papers illuminated some of the different perspectives of the three constituencies. We are grateful to the many distinguished contributors who were prepared to make powerful contributions to the conference

Sin Nombre Virus and Rodent Species Diversity: A Test of the Dilution and Amplification Hypotheses

BACKGROUND:Species diversity is proposed to greatly impact the prevalence of pathogens. Two predominant hypotheses, the "Dilution Effect" and the "Amplification Effect", predict divergent outcomes with respect to the impact of species diversity. The Dilution Effect predicts that pathogen prevalence will be negatively correlated with increased species diversity, while the Amplification Effect predicts that pathogen prevalence will be positively correlated with diversity. For many host-pathogen systems, the relationship between diversity and pathogen prevalence has not be empirically examined. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS:We tested the Dilution and Amplification Effect hypotheses by examining the prevalence of Sin Nombre virus (SNV) with respect to diversity of the nocturnal rodent community. SNV is directly transmitted primarily between deer mice (Peromyscus maniculatus). Using mark-recapture sampling in the Spring and Fall of 2003-2005, we measured SNV prevalence in deer mice at 16 landscape level sites (3.1 hectares each) that varied in rodent species diversity. We explored several mechanisms by which species diversity may affect SNV prevalence, including reduced host density, reduced host persistence, the presence of secondary reservoirs and community composition. We found a negative relationship between species diversity and SNV prevalence in deer mice, thereby supporting the Dilution Effect hypothesis. Deer mouse density and persistence were lower at sites with greater species diversity; however, only deer mouse persistence was positively correlated with SNV prevalence. Pinyon mice (P. truei) may serve as dilution agents, having a negative effect on prevalence, while kangaroo rats (Dipodomys ordii), may have a positive effect on the prevalence of SNV, perhaps through effects on deer mouse behavior. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE:While previous studies on host-pathogen systems have found patterns of diversity consistent with either the Dilution or Amplification Effects, the mechanisms by which species diversity influences prevalence have not been investigated. Our study indicates that changes in host persistence, coupled with interspecific interactions, are important mechanisms through which diversity may influence patterns of pathogens. Our results reveal the complexity of rodent community interactions with respect to SNV dynamics

Finishing the euchromatic sequence of the human genome

The sequence of the human genome encodes the genetic instructions for human physiology, as well as rich information about human evolution. In 2001, the International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium reported a draft sequence of the euchromatic portion of the human genome. Since then, the international collaboration has worked to convert this draft into a genome sequence with high accuracy and nearly complete coverage. Here, we report the result of this finishing process. The current genome sequence (Build 35) contains 2.85 billion nucleotides interrupted by only 341 gaps. It covers ∼99% of the euchromatic genome and is accurate to an error rate of ∼1 event per 100,000 bases. Many of the remaining euchromatic gaps are associated with segmental duplications and will require focused work with new methods. The near-complete sequence, the first for a vertebrate, greatly improves the precision of biological analyses of the human genome including studies of gene number, birth and death. Notably, the human enome seems to encode only 20,000-25,000 protein-coding genes. The genome sequence reported here should serve as a firm foundation for biomedical research in the decades ahead

Mathematics, capitalism and biosocial research

In my previous work, I criticised studies within the sociopolitical turn for disavowing a comprehension of schools as places of capitalist production. Here, I extend this critique to what is being flagged as a new turn in educational research. I am referring to biosocial research, particularly in the way it is coupled with new materialist and more than human philosophies in the work of Elizabeth de Freitas. I use elements from Marxian theory and Lacanian psychoanalysis to explore the concomitances between mathematics and capitalism, showing how both mathematics and capital need to suture the subject in order to thrive. Biosocial research epitomises this drive towards automation and totality, and, notwithstanding de Freitas’ attempts to rescue it from the logic of control, I will argue that agent-centred intentions dismiss the underlying workings of capital as a real abstraction. I do so by engaging with elements of Deleuze’s philosophy, showing how the more than human frame in which de Freitas’ biosocial research rests contradicts her own perception of how biosocial research can be rescued for inclusive purposes

The sources of economic growth in the New Zealand economy after 1950

This thesis investigates some aspects of the ordering of nuclear spin systems at low temperatures. The thesis is divided into two parts. In part one some nuclear orientation experiments of 74As in Fe and 206Bi and Ni and Fe are described. These nuclei are orientated by the large hyperfine field inside Ni and Fe. The orientation is detected by the anisotropy of the emitted gamma-rays and in the case of 74As by the destruction of this anisotropy by NMR. Chapter one reviews the theory of the nuclear orientation method. To aid in the interpretation of the 206Bi results, some channelling experiments were done. A review of the method of atom location by channelling is given in chapter two. Chapter three describes the apparatus and technique used. The results of the 74AsFe experiments are given in chapter four. In these experiments the magnetic moment of the ground state of 74As was measured to be μ = 1.597(3), the sign of the hyperfine field was found to be positive, and the spin-lattice relaxation time was found to be 120(30) s. The results of the 206BiNi experiments are given in chapter five. The hyperfine was found to be 390(15) kOe for both diffused polycrystalline and implanted single crystal samples. The multipolarity mixing ratios of many of the gamma,-rays were found. Reorientation of the metastable state of 206Pb was observed, which had not been expected. On the basis of the channelling experiments, this reorientation has been explained by the theor

Symposium in honour of Ugo Amaldi's 60th birthday

Ugo Amaldi,a man of science , G Myattpp total cross section, G Matthiae Neutrino physics, K Winter DELPHI & LEP physics, G Kalmus Supersymmetry, J EllisElectron-proton physics, B WiikLinear colliders, B Richter Closing address, C Llewellyn Smith -Symposium on LEP detector