The demand for money in developing countries: Assessing the role of financial innovation

Traditional specifications of money demand have been commonly plagU4:!d by persistent overprediction, implausible parameter estimates, and highly autocorrelated errors. This paper argues that some of those problems stem from the failure to account for the impact of financial innovation. We estimate money demand for ten developing countries employing various proxies for the innovation process and provide an assessment of the relative importance of this variable. We find that financial innovation plays an important role in determining money demand and its fluctuations, and that the importance of this role increases with the rate of inflation.

Evidence of ventilation changes in the Arabian Sea during the late Quaternary:Implication for denitrification and nitrous oxide emission

Modern seawater profiles of oxygen, nitrate deficit, and nitrogen isotopes reveal the spatial decoupling of summer monsoon-related productivity and denitrification maxima in the Arabian Sea (AS) and raise the possibility that winter monsoon and/or ventilation play a crucial role in modulating denitrification in the northeastern AS, both today and through the past. A new high-resolution 50-ka record of delta(15) N from the Pakistan margin is compared to five other denitrification records distributed across the AS. This regional comparison unveils the persistence of east-west heterogeneities in denitrification intensity across millennial-scale climate shifts and throughout the Holocene. The oxygen minimum zone (OMZ) experienced east-west swings across Termination I and throughout the Holocene. Probable causes are (1) changes in ventilation due to millennial-scale variations in Antarctic Intermediate Water formation and (2) postglacial reorganization of intermediate circulation in the northeastern AS following sea level rise. Whereas denitrification in the world's OMZs, including the western AS, gradually declined following the deglacial maximum (10-9 ka BP), the northeastern AS record clearly witnesses increasing denitrification from about 8 ka BP. This would have impacted the global Holocene climate through sustained N2O production and marine nitrogen loss

PP2A phosphatase acts upon SAS-5 to ensure centriole formation in C. elegans embryos.

International audienceCentrosome duplication occurs once per cell cycle and ensures that the two resulting centrosomes assemble a bipolar mitotic spindle. Centriole formation is fundamental for centrosome duplication. In Caenorhabditis elegans, the evolutionarily conserved proteins SPD-2, ZYG-1, SAS-6, SAS-5, and SAS-4 are essential for centriole formation, but how they function is not fully understood. Here, we demonstrate that Protein Phosphatase 2A (PP2A) is also critical for centriole formation in C. elegans embryos. We find that PP2A subunits genetically and physically interact with the SAS-5/SAS-6 complex. Furthermore, we show that PP2A-mediated dephosphorylation promotes centriolar targeting of SAS-5 and ensures SAS-6 delivery to the site of centriole assembly. We find that PP2A is similarly needed for the presence of HsSAS-6 at centrioles and for centriole formation in human cells. These findings lead us to propose that PP2A-mediated loading of SAS-6 proteins is critical at the onset of centriole formation

Evaluation of a maxillofacial miniplate compact 1.0 for stabilization of the ulna in experimentally induced ulnar and radial fractures in pigeons (Columba livia)

Bone healing of the ulna after osteotomy and fixation with a maxillofacial miniplate (Compact 1.0) was studied in feral pigeons (Columba livia). The ulna and radius were transected with an oscillating bone saw to produce a diaphyseal fracture. Two different procedures for fixation were compared. In procedure 1 (n = 6), the ulna was stabilized with a 6-hole maxillofacial miniplate. In procedure 2 (n = 4), the ulna was stabilized with the plate, and the radius was stabilized with an intramedullary 1.0 Kirschner wire. Plate distortion and bending occurred in all 6 birds with fractures that were immobilized with the plate only, and 1 plate failure was noted with subsequent synostosis. When both bones were immobilized, 2 cases of minimal plate deformation and 1 case of cortical fragment displacement occurred. Callus formation was significantly less pronounced after procedure 2 as compared with procedure 1; however, primary bone healing was not achieved with either procedure. From these results we conclude that dorsal single plating of the ulna with a 6-hole maxillofacial miniplate in experimentally induced ulnar and radial fractures in pigeons does not result in adequate stabilization

A Single-blinded, Randomized Clinical Trial of How to Implement an Evidence-based Treatment for Generalized Anxiety Disorder [IMPLEMENT] — Effects of Three Different Strategies of Implementation

BACKGROUND: Despite long-standing calls to disseminate evidence-based treatments for generalized anxiety (GAD), modest progress has been made in the study of how such treatments should be implemented. The primary objective of this study was to test three competing strategies on how to implement a cognitive behavioral treatment (CBT) for out-patients with GAD (i.e., comparison of one compensation vs. two capitalization models). METHODS: For our three-arm, single-blinded, randomized controlled trial (implementation of CBT for GAD [IMPLEMENT]), we recruited adults with GAD using advertisements in high-circulation newspapers to participate in a 14-session cognitive behavioral treatment (Mastery of your Anxiety and Worry, MAW-packet). We randomly assigned eligible patients using a full randomization procedure (1:1:1) to three different conditions of implementation: adherence priming (compensation model), which had a systematized focus on patients' individual GAD symptoms and how to compensate for these symptoms within the MAW-packet, and resource priming and supportive resource priming (capitalization model), which had systematized focuses on patients' strengths and abilities and how these strengths can be capitalized within the same packet. In the intention-to-treat population an outcome composite of primary and secondary symptoms-related self-report questionnaires was analyzed based on a hierarchical linear growth model from intake to 6-month follow-up assessment. This trial is registered at ClinicalTrials.gov (identifier: NCT02039193) and is closed to new participants. FINDINGS: From June 2012 to Nov. 2014, from 411 participants that were screened, 57 eligible participants were recruited and randomly assigned to three conditions. Forty-nine patients (86%) provided outcome data at post-assessment (14% dropout rate). All three conditions showed a highly significant reduction of symptoms over time. However, compared with the adherence priming condition, both resource priming conditions indicated faster symptom reduction. The observer ratings of a sub-sample of recorded videos (n = 100) showed that the therapists in the resource priming conditions conducted more strength-oriented interventions in comparison with the adherence priming condition. No patients died or attempted suicide. INTERPRETATION: To our knowledge, this is the first trial that focuses on capitalization and compensation models during the implementation of one prescriptive treatment packet for GAD. We have shown that GAD related symptoms were significantly faster reduced by the resource priming conditions, although the limitations of our study included a well-educated population. If replicated, our results suggest that therapists who implement a mental health treatment for GAD might profit from a systematized focus on capitalization models. FUNDING: Swiss Science National Foundation (SNSF-Nr. PZ00P1_136937/1) awarded to CF. KEYWORDS: Cognitive behavioral therapy; Evidence-based treatment; Implementation strategies; Randomized controlled tria

Correlative multicolor 3D SIM and STORM microscopy

Within the last decade, super-resolution methods that surpass the diffraction limit of light microscopy have provided invaluable insight into a variety of biological questions. Each of these approaches has inherent advantages and limitations, such that their combination is a powerful means to transform them into versatile tools for the life sciences. Here, we report the development of a combined SIM and STORM setup that maintains the optimal resolution of both methods and which is coupled to image registration to localize biological structures in 3D using multicolor labeling. We utilized this workflow to determine the localization of Bld12p/CrSAS-6 in purified basal bodies of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii with utmost precision, demonstrating its usefulness for accurate molecular mapping in 3D. (C) 2014 Optical Society of Americ

Structural Basis of the 9-Fold Symmetry of Centrioles

The centriole, and the related basal body, is an ancient organelle characterized by a universal 9-fold radial symmetry and is critical for generating cilia, flagella, and centrosomes. The mechanisms directing centriole formation are incompletely understood and represent a fundamental open question in biology. Here, we demonstrate that the centriolar protein SAS-6 forms rod-shaped homodimers that interact through their N-terminal domains to form oligomers. We establish that such oligomerization is essential for centriole formation in C. elegans and human cells. We further generate a structural model of the related protein Bld12p from C. reinhardtii, in which nine homodimers assemble into a ring from which nine coiled-coil rods radiate outward. Moreover, we demonstrate that recombinant Bld12p self-assembles into structures akin to the central hub of the cartwheel, which serves as a scaffold for centriole formation. Overall, our findings establish a structural basis for the universal 9-fold symmetry of centrioles