Determinacy and Taylor’s Rule with Different Degrees of Trade Openness in a Semi-New Keynesian Model

The determinacy question, concerning whether or not there is convergence to a unique equilibrium path, in an explicitly dynamic setting, has been addressed in closed economies but only scantily in an open one. We undertake this task, using a model that leads to a 4th -degree characteristic equation which cannot be handled analytically; therefore, we develop a particular algorithm to solve it. We show that the determinacy-consistent specification of Taylor’s rule depends, critically, on the greater or lower openness in the trade sector. Greater openness supports a novel specification of Taylor’s rule with stronger emphasis on output gaps and weaker emphasis on the price stability than in earlier studies. Under this rule, determinate equilibrium dynamics is shown to be possible. When trade openness decreases significantly, determinacy is still possible, but it is compatible with a far more conventional formulation Taylor’s rule where price stability has absolute priority

Structure of a bacterial type IV secretion core complex at subnanometre resolution

Type IV secretion (T4S) systems are able to transport DNAs and/or proteins through the membranes of bacteria. They form large multiprotein complexes consisting of 12 proteins termed VirB1-11 and VirD4. VirB7, 9 and 10 assemble into a 1.07 MegaDalton membrane-spanning core complex (CC), around which all other components assemble. This complex is made of two parts, the O-layer inserted in the outer membrane and the I-layer inserted in the inner membrane. While the structure of the O-layer has been solved by X-ray crystallography, there is no detailed structural information on the I-layer. Using high-resolution cryo-electron microscopy and molecular modelling combined with biochemical approaches, we determined the I-layer structure and located its various components in the electron density. Our results provide new structural insights on the CC, from which the essential features of T4S system mechanisms can be derived

Self-organising, self-managing frameworks and strategies

A novel, general framework that can be used for constructing a self-organising and self-managing system is introduced. This framework is independent of the application domain. It embodies directed evolution, can be parameterised with different strategies, and supports both local and global goals. This framework is then used to apply the principles of self-organisation and self-management to resource management within the CloudLightning architecture

Soft Microreactors for the Deposition of Conductive Metallic Traces on Planar, Embossed, and Curved Surfaces

Advanced manufacturing strategies have enabled large‐scale, economical, and efficient production of electronic components that are an integral part of various consumer products ranging from simple toys to intricate computing systems; however, the circuitry for these components is (by and large) produced via top‐down lithography and is thus limited to planar surfaces. The present work demonstrates the use of reconfigurable soft microreactors for the patterned deposition of conductive copper traces on flat and embossed two‐dimensional (2D) substrates as well as nonplanar substrates made from different commodity plastics. Using localized, flow‐assisted, low‐temperature, electroless copper deposition, conductive metallic traces are fabricated, which, when combined with various off‐the‐shelf electronic components, enabled the production of simple circuits and antennas with unique form factors. This solution‐phase approach to the patterned deposition of functional inorganic materials selectively on different polymeric components will provide relatively simple, inexpensive processing opportunities for the fabrication of 2D/nonplanar devices when compared to complicated manufacturing methods such as laser‐directed structuring. Further, this approach to the patterned metallization of different commodity plastics offers unique design opportunities applicable to the fabrication of planar and nonplanar electronic and interconnect devices, and other free‐form electronics with less structural “bloat” and weight (by directly coating support elements with circuitry)

Experimental investigation and parametric analysis of a solar thermal dish collector with spiral absorber

Solar-tracking dish collectors are a potential alternative to fossil fuels because of their high concentration ratios. Important considerations for solar collectors are manufacturing costs, complexity, efficiency, uniform flux distribution and working fluid selection. In this study, a simple, low-cost solar dish collector with a spiral absorber and lightweight structure is examined. Experiments were performed with water as working fluid where the volumetric flow rate, inlet and outlet temperatures, ambient temperature, air velocity and solar irradiation were measured. Experimental results were used to validate a numerical model developed in Engineering Equation Solver, where three working fluids (water, thermal oil and air) were considered in various operating conditions. According to the thermal analysis, water is the most appropriate working fluid for low-temperature applications and thermal oil the most appropriate for higher-temperature applications. The exergetic analysis, however, shows that air is the most appropriate for low-temperature applications and thermal oil the most appropriate for higher-temperature applications. The highest exergetic efficiency was observed for thermal oil with inlet temperature of 155 °C. The system can be feasible in areas with solar potential of more than 1600 kW h/m2 and where the cost of heating is more than 0.15 €/kW h.This paper is included in the research framework of Research Project: III42006 – Research and Development of Energy and Environmentally Highly Effective Polygeneration Systems Based on Renewable Energy Resources.The Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development of the Republic of Serbia.http://www.journals.elsevier.com/applied-thermal-engineering/2018-07-05Mechanical and Aeronautical Engineerin

FOXO1 controls protein synthesis and transcript abundance of mutant polyglutamine proteins, preventing protein aggregation

FOXO1, a transcription factor downstream of the insulin/insulin like growth factor axis, has been linked to protein degradation. Elevated expression of FOXO orthologs can also prevent the aggregation of cytosine adenine guanine (CAG)-repeat disease causing polyglutamine (polyQ) proteins but whether FOXO1 targets mutant proteins for degradation is unclear. Here, we show that increased expression of FOXO1 prevents toxic polyQ aggregation in human cells while reducing FOXO1 levels has the opposite effect and accelerates it. Although FOXO1 indeed stimulates autophagy, its effect on polyQ aggregation is independent of autophagy, ubiquitin–proteasome system (UPS) mediated protein degradation and is not due to a change in mutant polyQ protein turnover. Instead, FOXO1 specifically downregulates protein synthesis rates from expanded pathogenic CAG repeat transcripts. FOXO1 orchestrates a change in the composition of proteins that occupy mutant expanded CAG transcripts, including the recruitment of IGF2BP3. This mRNA binding protein enables a FOXO1 driven decrease in pathogenic expanded CAG transcript- and protein levels, thereby reducing the initiation of amyloidogenesis. Our data thus demonstrate that FOXO1 not only preserves protein homeostasis at multiple levels, but also reduces the accumulation of aberrant RNA species that may co-contribute to the toxicity in CAG-repeat diseases

Adolescents show collective intelligence which can be driven by a geometric mean rule of thumb

How effective groups are in making decisions is a long-standing question in studying human and animal behaviour. Despite the limited social and cognitive abilities of younger people, skills which are often required for collective intelligence, studies of group performance have been limited to adults. Using a simple task of estimating the number of sweets in jars, we show in two experiments that adolescents at least as young as 11 years old improve their estimation accuracy after a period of group discussion, demonstrating collective intelligence. Although this effect was robust to the overall distribution of initial estimates, when the task generated positively skewed estimates, the geometric mean of initial estimates gave the best fit to the data compared to other tested aggregation rules. A geometric mean heuristic in consensus decision making is also likely to apply to adults, as it provides a robust and well-performing rule for aggregating different opinions. The geometric mean rule is likely to be based on an intuitive logarithmic-like number representation, and our study suggests that this mental number scaling may be beneficial in collective decisions

Energy-efficient servers and cloud

As the sizes of cloud infrastructures continue to grow, the complexity of the cloud is becoming more and more difficult to manage. Currently, centralised management schemes dominate and there are already signs that these are no longer fit for purpose. The CloudLightning project takes a novel route, making use of self-organisation techniques to address the problems emerging from the confluence of issues in the emerging cloud: rising complexity and energy costs, problems of management and efficiency of use, the need to efficiently deploy services to a growing community of non-specialist users and the need to facilitate solutions based on heterogeneous components. CloudLightning efficiently addresses three main challenges in the domain of heterogeneous cloud computing: energy efficiency, improved accessibility to cloud and support for heterogeneity. The chapter provides an overview of the CloudLightning system