A Microfounded Sectoral Model for Open Economies

Numerical simulations of the two-country sectoral model are provided for a relatively large number of structural shocks as domestic and foreign productivity shocks in final tradables and non-tradables, money demand shocks and a shock in the exchange rate. Such a model is well suited for monetary policy analysis at the international level and risk analysis.New Keynesian open economy model;tradable and non-tradable sectors;final and intermediate goods;log-linearization

Enhanced MFC power production and struvite recovery by the addition of sea salts to urine

© 2016 The Authors Urine is an excellent fuel for electricity generation in Microbial Fuel Cells (MFCs), especially with practical implementations in mind. Moreover, urine has a high content in nutrients which can be easily recovered. Struvite (MgNH4PO4·6H2O) crystals naturally precipitate in urine, but this reaction can be enhanced by the introduction of additional magnesium. In this work, the effect of magnesium additives on the power output of the MFCs and on the catholyte generation is evaluated. Several magnesium sources including MgCl2, artificial sea water and a commercially available sea salts mixture for seawater preparation (SeaMix) were mixed with real fresh human urine in order to enhance struvite precipitation. The supernatant of each mixture was tested as a feedstock for the MFCs and it was evaluated in terms of power output and catholyte generation. The commercial SeaMix showed the best performance in terms of struvite precipitation, increasing the amount of struvite in the solid collected from 21% to 94%. Moreover, the SeaMix increased the maximum power performance of the MFCs by over 10% and it also changed the properties of the catholyte collected by increasing the pH, conductivity and the concentration of chloride ions. These results demonstrate that the addition of sea-salts to real urine is beneficial for both struvite recovery and electricity generation in MFCs

Applying Definitions of “Asbestos” to Environmental and “Low-Dose” Exposure Levels and Health Effects, Particularly Malignant Mesothelioma

Although asbestos research has been ongoing for decades, this increased knowledge has not led to consensus in many areas of the field. Two such areas of controversy include the specific definitions of asbestos, and limitations in understanding exposure-response relationships for various asbestos types and exposure levels and disease. This document reviews the current regulatory and mineralogical definitions and how variability in these definitions has led to difficulties in the discussion and comparison of both experimental laboratory and human epidemiological studies for asbestos. This review also examines the issues of exposure measurement in both animal and human studies, and discusses the impact of these issues on determination of cause for asbestos-related diseases. Limitations include the lack of detailed characterization and limited quantification of the fibers in most studies. Associated data gaps and research needs are also enumerated in this review

Retirement rigidities and the gap between effective and desired labour supply by older workers

Our paper analyses the observed and desired labour supply of older workers and (recent) retirees in a country (Italy) with limited opportunities for exible work schedules. For this purpose, we use a unique dataset drawn from the Bank of Italy's Survey on Household Income and Wealth (SHIW) providing information on both desired and actual working hours. Our empirical analysis documents the gap between older individuals' desired and observed labour supply at both the extensive and the intensive margins and traces it back to gender, education and family composition. The paper provides useful insights into the potential effectiveness of policies such as gradual retirement and part-time work in increasing older workers' employment

Regulation Of The Microtubule Cytoskeleton And Cell Wall Development In Arabidopsis Thaliana

Regulation of the cortical microtubule cytoskeleton is critical for organized plant cell division. Arabidopsis ton1 and ton2 mutants display random cell division plane placement and lack the plant-specific cortical microtubule array that encircles the nucleus prior to mitosis. In wild type plants, this preprophase band (PPB) of cortical microtubules precisely marks the future division plane. The specific roles of TON1 and TON2 in PPB formation are not yet known. It is suspected that TON1 Recruiting Motif (TRM) proteins may be involved in TON1 and TON2 recruitment to the PPB. Here we describe results for the targeted disruption of a group of TRMs along with localization studies of a larger group of TRMs. We found that TRM33 localizes to the PPB, indicating that it may be important for plant cell division. In addition, TRM13 and TRM14 were found to be important for leaf morphogenesis and trichome cell polarity. Together, these results indicate diverse roles for TRMs in the regulation of the microtubule cytoskeleton and plant development. The plant cell wall plays an important role in communication, defense, organization and support. Arabidopsis trichomes, or leaf hairs, exhibit distinct cell wall characteristics, including papillae. To better understand the molecular processes important for papillae deposition on the cell wall surface, we identified the genes responsible for the reduction of papillae seen in two glassy hair mutants. Collectively, the presented results show that MED25 and MED16 are necessary for papillae formation on the cell wall surface of leaf trichomes and that a subset of Arabidopsis Mediator tail subunits is required for the transcriptional regulation of papillae promoting genes

Replication files for "Estimating shadow policy rates in a small open economy and the role of foreign factors" 2023 JIMF #102972

This zip file contains data and Matlab replication files for "Estimating shadow policy rates in a small open economy and the role of foreign factors". Forthcoming at Journal International Money and Finance article number 102972 (2023)THIS DATASET IS ARCHIVED AT DANS/EASY, BUT NOT ACCESSIBLE HERE. TO VIEW A LIST OF FILES AND ACCESS THE FILES IN THIS DATASET CLICK ON THE DOI-LINK ABOV