The European Central Bank and the Federal Reserve

In the 4 years of its existence, the European Central Bank (ECB) has made significant contributions to the macroeconomic stability of the euro area. This paper takes a critical look at the ECB and compares its institutional structure, policy framework, and operational procedures with those of the longer-established US central bank. We discuss the implications of various differences between the ECB and the Federal Reserve with a view toward identifying successful elements of the practices of both these institutions. The paper recommends that the ECB abandon the first pillar of its monetary policy strategy that affords a special role to monetary aggregates in the evaluation of financial market conditions. It also suggests that the Federal Reserve should follow the ECB\u27s lead and provide an explicit definition of price stability

Asset Prices in the Measurement of Inflation

The debate over including asset prices in the construction of an inflation statistic has attracted renewed attention in recent years. Virtually all of this (and earlier) work on incorporating asset prices into an aggregate price statistic has been motivated by a presumed, but unidentified transmission mechanism through which asset prices are leading indicators of inflation at the retail level. This paper takes an alternative, longer-term perspective on the issue and argues that the exclusion of asset prices introduces an excluded goods bias in the computation of the inflation statistic that is of interest to the monetary authority. This idea is implemented using a relatively modern statistical technique, a dynamic factor index. This statistical algorithm allows researchers to see through the excessively noisy asset price data that have frustrated earlier researchers who have attempted to integrate these prices into an aggregate measure

Method for the Collection and HPLC Analysis of Hydrogen Peroxide and C\u3csub\u3el\u3c/sub\u3e and C\u3csub\u3e2\u3c/sub\u3e Hydroperoxides in the Atmosphere

An HPLC (high-performance liquid chromatography) method was developed to quantify hydrogen peroxide, methyl hydroperoxide. Hydroxymethyl hydroperoxide, ethyl hydroperoxide, and peroxyaectic acid in the atmosphere. Gas-phase hydroperoxides are collected in aqueous solution using a continuous-flow glass scrubbing coil and then analyzed by an HPLC postcolumn derivatization system. The detection system is based on fluorescence, produced by the product of the reaction of hydroperoxides with peroxidase and p-hydroxyphenylacetic acid. Reproducibilities are better than 3% for all hydroperoxides in aqueous concentrations of 1 × 10−7–6 × 10−7 M. Detection limits in aqueous concentration are 1.2 × 10−9 M for hydrogen peroxide, 1.5 × 10−9 M for hydroxymethyl hydroperoxide, 2.9 × 10−9 M for methyl hydroperoxide, 16 × 10−9 M for peroxyaectic acid, and 19 × 10−9 M for ethyl hydroperoxide. Corresponding gas-phase detection limits are 5 PPtv for hydrogen peroxide, 7 pptv for hydroxymethyl hydroperoxide, 13 pptv for methyl hydroperoxide, 72 pptv for peroxyacetic acid, and 84 pptv for ethyl hydroperoxide for an air sample flow rate of two standard liters per minute and collection solution flow rate of 4 × 10−4 L min−1. The gas-phase detection limits for the latter three hydroperoxides vary depending on temperature, pressure, air sample flow rate, and collection solution flow rate. This system was used for several airborne and ground measurements and showed reliable performance

A biologging database of juvenile white sharks from the northeast Pacific

Species occurrence records are vital data streams in marine conservation with a wide range of important applications. From 2001–2020, the Monterey Bay Aquarium led an international research collaboration to understand the life cycle, ecology, and behavior of white sharks (Carcharodon carcharias) in the southern California Current. The collaboration was devoted to tagging juveniles with animal-borne sensors, also known as biologging. Here we report the full data records from 59 pop-up archival (PAT) and 20 smart position and temperature transmitting (SPOT) tags that variously recorded pressure, temperature, and light-level data, and computed depth and geolocations for 63 individuals. Whether transmitted or from recovered devices, raw data files from successful deployments (n = 70) were auto-ingested from the manufacturer into the United States (US) Animal Telemetry Network’s (ATN) Data Assembly Center (DAC). There they have attributed a full suite of metadata, visualized within their public-facing data portal, compiled for permanent archive under the DataONE Research Workspace member node, and are accessible for download from the ATN data portal

The Use of Transport Time Scales as Indicators of Pollution Persistence in a Macro-Tidal Setting

An understanding of water exchange processes is essential for assessing water quality management issues in coastal bays. This paper evaluates the impact of water exchange processes on pollution persistence in a macro-tidal semi-closed coastal bay through two transport time scales (TTS), namely residence time and exposure time. The numerical model was calibrated against field-measured data for various tidal conditions. Simulated current speeds and directions were shown to agree well with the field data. By considering different release scenarios of a conservative tracer by the refinement of an integrated hydrodynamic and solute transport model (the EFDC), the two TTS were used for interpreting the water exchange processes in a semi-closed system, and for describing the effects of advective and dispersive processes on the transport and fate of pollutants. The results indicate that the magnitudes of river inflows to the bay, tidal ranges, and tracer release times significantly influence the residence and exposure times. Return coefficients were shown to be variable, confirming the different effects of returning water for the different conditions that were studied. For the tested river flow magnitudes and tide conditions, the exposure times were generally higher than the residence times, but particularly so for neap tide conditions. The results, therefore, highlight the risks associated with pollutants leaving a specified domain on an outgoing tide but re-entering on subsequent incoming tides. The spatial distributions of the exposure and residence times across the model domain confirmed that for the case of Dublin Bay, river inputs have a potentially greater impact on water quality on the northern side of the bay

Rationale of using the dual chemokine receptor CCR2/CCR5 inhibitor cenicriviroc for the treatment of COVID-19

Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19), caused by Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), has created a global pandemic infecting over 230 million people and costing millions of lives. Therapies to attenuate severe disease are desperately needed. Cenicriviroc (CVC), a C-C chemokine receptor type 5 (CCR5) and C-C chemokine receptor type 2 (CCR2) antagonist, an agent previously studied in advanced clinical trials for patients with HIV or nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), may have the potential to reduce respiratory and cardiovascular organ failures related to COVID-19. Inhibiting the CCR2 and CCR5 pathways could attenuate or prevent inflammation or fibrosis in both early and late stages of the disease and improve outcomes of COVID-19. Clinical trials using CVC either in addition to standard of care (SoC; e.g., dexamethasone) or in combination with other investigational agents in patients with COVID-19 are currently ongoing. These trials intend to leverage the anti-inflammatory actions of CVC for ameliorating the clinical course of COVID-19 and prevent complications. This article reviews the literature surrounding the CCR2 and CCR5 pathways, their proposed role in COVID-19, and the potential role of CVC to improve outcomes

Measurement of Formic Acid, Acetic Acid and Hydroxyacetaldehyde, Hydrogen Peroxide, and Methyl Peroxide in Air by Chemical Ionization Mass Spectrometry: Airborne Method

A chemical ionization mass spectrometry (CIMS) method utilizing a reagent gas mixture of O2, CO2, and CH3I in N2 is described and optimized for quantitative gas-phase measurements of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), methyl peroxide (CH3OOH), formic acid (HCOOH), and the sum of acetic acid (CH3COOH) and hydroxyacetaldehyde (HOCH2CHO; also known as glycolaldehyde). The instrumentation and methodology were designed for airborne in situ field measurements. The CIMS quantification of formic acid, acetic acid, and hydroxyacetaldehyde used I− cluster formation to produce and detect the ion clusters I−(HCOOH), I−(CH3COOH), and I−(HOCH2CHO), respectively. The CIMS also produced and detected I− clusters with hydrogen peroxide and methyl peroxide, I−(H2O2) and I−(CH3OOH), though the sensitivity was lower than with the O2− (CO2) and O2− ion clusters, respectively. For that reason, while the I− peroxide clusters are presented, the focus is on the organic acids. Acetic acid and hydroxyacetaldehyde were found to yield equivalent CIMS responses. They are exact isobaric compounds and indistinguishable in the CIMS used. Consequently, their combined signal is referred to as the acetic acid equivalent sum. Within the resolution of the quadrupole used in the CIMS (1m∕z), ethanol and 1- and 2-propanol were potential isobaric interferences to the measurement of formic acid and the acetic acid equivalent sum, respectively. The CIMS response to ethanol was 3.3% that of formic acid and the response to either 1- or 2-propanol was 1% of the acetic acid response; therefore, the alcohols were not considered to be significant interferences to formic acid or the acetic acid equivalent sum. The multi-reagent ion system was successfully deployed during the Front Range Air Pollution and Photochemistry Éxperiment (FRAPPÉ) in 2014. The combination of FRAPPÉ and laboratory calibrations allowed for the post-mission quantification of formic acid and the acetic acid equivalent sum observed during the Deep Convective Clouds and Chemistry Experiment in 2012

An Ion-Neutral Model to Investigate Chemical Ionization Mass Spectrometry Analysis of Atmospheric Molecules – Application to a Mixed Reagent Ion System for Hydroperoxides and Organic Acids

An ion-neutral chemical kinetic model is described and used to simulate the negative ion chemistry occurring within a mixed-reagent ion chemical ionization mass spectrometer (CIMS). The model objective was the establishment of a theoretical basis to understand ambient pressure (variable sample flow and reagent ion carrier gas flow rates), water vapor, ozone and oxides of nitrogen effects on ion cluster sensitivities for hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), methyl peroxide (CH3OOH), formic acid (HFo) and acetic acid (HAc). The model development started with established atmospheric ion chemistry mechanisms, thermodynamic data and reaction rate coefficients. The chemical mechanism was augmented with additional reactions and their reaction rate coefficients specific to the analytes. Some existing reaction rate coefficients were modified to enable the model to match laboratory and field campaign determinations of ion cluster sensitivities as functions of CIMS sample flow rate and ambient humidity. Relative trends in predicted and observed sensitivities are compared as instrument specific factors preclude a direct calculation of instrument sensitivity as a function of sample pressure and humidity. Predicted sensitivity trends and experimental sensitivity trends suggested the model captured the reagent ion and cluster chemistry and reproduced trends in ion cluster sensitivity with sample flow and humidity observed with a CIMS instrument developed for atmospheric peroxide measurements (PCIMSs). The model was further used to investigate the potential for isobaric compounds as interferences in the measurement of the above species. For ambient O3 mixing ratios more than 50 times those of H2O2, O3−(H2O) was predicted to be a significant isobaric interference to the measurement of H2O2 using O2−(H2O2) at m∕z 66. O3 and NO give rise to species and cluster ions, CO3−(H2O) and NO3−(H2O), respectively, which interfere in the measurement of CH3OOH using O2−(CH3OOH) at m∕z 80. The CO3−(H2O) interference assumed one of its O atoms was 18O and present in the cluster in proportion to its natural abundance. The model results indicated monitoring water vapor mixing ratio, m∕z 78 for CO3−(H2O) and m∕z 98 for isotopic CO3−(H2O)2 can be used to determine when CO3−(H2O) interference is significant. Similarly, monitoring water vapor mixing ratio, m∕z 62 for NO3− and m∕z 98 for NO3−(H2O)2 can be used to determine when NO3−(H2O) interference is significant