The Science of Monetary Policy: A New Keynesian Perspective

MONETARY POLICY; STABILIZATION; CREDIBILITY.

Monetary Policy Rules and Macroeconomic Stability: Evidence and some Theory

We estimate a forward-looking monetary policy reaction function for the postwar U.S. economy, pre- and post-October 1979. Our results point to substantial differences in the estimated rule across periods. In particular, interest rate policy in the Volcker-Greenspan period appears to have been much mors sensitive to changes in expected inflation than in the pre-Volcker period.BUSINESS CYCLES ; MONETARY POLICY

Assessment of serum total protein, albumin and calcium in pregnant women attending ante-natal clinic, University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital

Background: Pregnancy is a normal physiological phenomenon with many biochemical changes including calcium metabolism. Calcium requirement increases during pregnancy, thereby increasing the chances of developing hypocalcaemia and hypoalbuminaemia. Aim: The aim of the present study was to assess serum levels of total protein, albumin, and calcium among pregnant women in University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital Maiduguri, Borno State. Methodology: A total of two hundred (200) subjects were recruited for this study. One hundred and twenty (120) are confirmed pregnant women and 80 non pregnant women age matched were used as controls, out of the 120 pregnant women that participated in the study, 30 were in first trimester, 50 were in second trimester and 40 were in third trimester. Blood chemistry analysis was conducted spectrophotometrically using Biurets method (For Total protein), Bromocresol green method (for Albumin) and O-Cresolphthalein complex one (for calcium). Results: The results show a significant lower value of calcium and albumin (p<0.05) among first trimester pregnant women when compared to the control subjects. The results show a significant decrease in calcium and albumin (p<0.05) among second trimester pregnant women when compared to control subjects. The results show a significant lower value in calcium and albumin (p<0.05) among third trimester pregnant women when compared to control subjects. The results between 1st, 2nd and 3rd trimester pregnant women subjects show a significant difference in calcium and albumin (p<0.05), but there were no significant differences in total protein (p>0.05). The result shows no significant difference in total protein level (p> 0.005)among the first trimester pregnant women when compared to the control subjects. It also shows no any significant difference in total protein level (p> 0.005) among the third trimester pregnant women when compared to the control subjects. Conclusion: There is reduction or decrease in calcium and albumin levels in pregnant women especially in the third trimester. Key words: Pregnancy; Total Protein; Albumin; Calciu

Bright Room-Temperature Single Photon Emission from Defects in Gallium Nitride

Single photon emitters play a central role in many photonic quantum technologies. A promising class of single photon emitters consists of atomic color centers in wide-bandgap crystals, such as diamond silicon carbide and hexagonal boron nitride. However, it is currently not possible to grow these materials as sub-micron thick films on low-refractive index substrates, which is necessary for mature photonic integrated circuit technologies. Hence, there is great interest in identifying quantum emitters in technologically mature semiconductors that are compatible with suitable heteroepitaxies. Here, we demonstrate robust single photon emitters based on defects in gallium nitride (GaN), the most established and well understood semiconductor that can emit light over the entire visible spectrum. We show that the emitters have excellent photophysical properties including a brightness in excess of 500x10^3 counts/s. We further show that the emitters can be found in a variety of GaN wafers, thus offering reliable and scalable platform for further technological development. We propose a theoretical model to explain the origin of these emitters based on cubic inclusions in hexagonal gallium nitride. Our results constitute a feasible path to scalable, integrated on-chip quantum technologies based on GaN

A new species of Penicillium section Ramosa from Tunisian Apples

One of the limiting factors that influence the fruits economic chain value is the relatively short shelf-life period caused by fungal infections. The symptoms of fungal infection may be observed at different times but many fungi may remain dormant for varying periods until post-harvest favorable conditions become available for their development. In a mycotoxin contamination survey of apples from markets in Tunisia, 54 Penicillium strains were isolated. However, two isolates could not be assigned to any described species based on morphological and molecular phylogenetic analyses. The aim of this study was the characterisation and description of this new putative species. For morphological analyses, MUM 17.62 and MUM 17.80 were inoculated in triplicate in CYA, YES, G25N, CSN and MEA media and incubated in the dark at 25 ºC for 7 days. CYA plates were also incubated at 30ºC and 37ºC. Colony size was measured and for microscopy analysis fungi grown in MEA was used. Multilocus sequence analysis (MLSA) was performed through comparison of partial β-tubulin (benA), calmodulin (cmd) and nuclear ribosomal internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region with sequences available in GenBank derived from type strains of Penicillium species. All the sequences were aligned and phylogenetic trees were assembled using MEGA. For MUM 17.62 and MUM 17.80 morphologically, the colonies growth was very restricted in the different media. No growth was observed on CYA at 30 ºC and 37 ºC. The strains show slight differences in green colour. Both present velutionous, sulcate and irregular colonies in MEA. Microscopically, the conidiophores are biverticillate and conidia ellipsoidal. MLSA revealed that the two strains belong to Penicillium section Ramosa. Fingerprinting using the M13 microsatellite showed that the two strains are not clones and analysis of the isoepoxydon dehydrogenase (idh) gene revealed that they lack the ability to produce patulin. In summary, in terms of multigene phylogeny the two strains are closely related to P. lenticrescens, P. chroogomphum and P. soppii of the section Ramosa however they well-circumscribe a sp. nov. coined as Penicillium tunisinus.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Theoretical study of the mechanism of dry oxidation of 4H-SiC

Possible defect structures, arising from the interaction of O-2 molecules with an ideal portion of the SiC/SiO2 interface, have been investigated systematically using density functional theory. Based on the calculated total energies and assuming thermal quasiequilibrium during oxidation, the most likely routes leading to complete oxidation have been determined. The defect structures produced along these routes will remain at the interface in significant concentration when stopping the oxidation process. The results obtained for their properties are well supported by experimental findings about the SiC/SiO2 interface. It is found that carbon-carbon bonds can explain most of the observed interface states but not the high density near the conduction band of 4H-SiC

Is the unemployment inflation trade-off still alive in the Euro Area and its member countries? It seems so

The unemployment inflation trade-off can be interpreted as a proposition concerning the response of these two variables to aggregate demand shocks. In this paper we study the possible presence of the trade-off in the Euro Area and in a wide group of Euroarea countries in the last 20 years, i.e. since the start of EMU. We use the structural VAR methodology that allows the separation between supply and demand shocks. Our main finding is that the existence of a trade-off is largely confirmed both at the Euro Area and at the national level. Nevertheless, the size of the trade-off, measured at different horizons, shows some heterogeneity among countries. No less important, when we augment the VAR model by introducing monetary policy in the context of an open economy, we find that monetary policy shocks push inflation and unemployment in opposite directions in the Currency Area. Another interesting result concerns the evidence of a relatively flat relation between unemployment and inflation, conditionally to monetary policy shocks

Radical defects modulate the photocatalytic response in 2D-graphitic carbon nitride

Graphitic carbon nitride (gCN) is an important heterogeneous metal-free catalytic material. Thermally induced post-synthetic modifications, such as amorphization and/or reduction, were recently used to enhance the photocatalytic response of these materials for certain classes of organic transformations, with structural defects possibly playing an important role. The knowledge of how these surface modifications modulate the photocatalytic response of gCN is therefore not only interesting from a fundamental point of view, but also necessary for the development and/or tuning of metal-free gCN systems with superior photo-catalytic properties. Herein, employing density functional theory calculations and combining both the periodic and molecular approaches, in conjunction with experimental EPR measurements, we demonstrate that different structural defects on the gCN surface generate distinctive radical defect states localized within the electronic bandgap, with only those correlated with amorphous and reduced gCN structures being photo-active. To this end, we (i) model defective gCN surfaces containing radical defect states; (ii) assess the interactions of these defects with the radical precursors involved in the photo-driven alkylation of electron-rich aromatic compounds (namely perfluoroalkyl iodides); and (iii) describe the photo-chemical processes triggering the initial step of that reaction at the gCN surface. We provide a coherent structure/photo-catalytic property relationship on defective gCN surfaces, elaborating how only specific defect types act as binding sites for the perfluoroalkyl iodide reagent and can favor a photo-induced charge transfer from the gCN surface to the molecule, thus triggering the perfluoroalkylation reaction

A novel rapid-onset high-penetrance plasmacytoma mouse model driven by deregulation of cMYC cooperating with KRAS12V in BALB/c mice

Our goal is to develop a rapid and scalable system for functionally evaluating deregulated genes in multiple myeloma (MM). Here, we forcibly expressed human cMYC and KRAS12V in mouse T2 B cells (IgM+B220+CD38+IgD+) using retroviral transduction and transplanted these cells into lethally irradiated recipient mice. Recipients developed plasmacytomas with short onset (70 days) and high penetrance, whereas neither cMYC nor KRAS12V alone induced disease in recipient mice. Tumor cell morphology and cell surface biomarkers (CD138+B220−IgM−GFP+) indicate a plasma cell neoplasm. Gene set enrichment analysis further confirms that the tumor cells have a plasma cell gene expression signature. Plasmacytoma cells infiltrated multiple loci in the bone marrow, spleen and liver; secreted immunoglobulins; and caused glomerular damage. Our findings therefore demonstrate that deregulated expression of cMYC with KRAS12V in T2 B cells rapidly generates a plasma cell disease in mice, suggesting utility of this model both to elucidate molecular pathogenesis and to validate novel targeted therapies

Defects in SiO2 as the possible origin of near interface traps in the SiC∕SiO2 system: A systematic theoretical study

A systematic study of the level positions of intrinsic and carbon defects in SiO2 is presented, based on density functional calculations with a hybrid functional in an alpha-quartz supercell. The results are analyzed from the point of view of the near interface traps (NIT), observed in both SiC/SiO2 and Si/SiO2 systems, and assumed to have their origins in the oxide. It is shown that the vacancies and the oxygen interstitial can be excluded as the origin of such NIT, while the silicon interstitial and carbon dimers give rise to gap levels in the energy range inferred from experiments. The properties of these defects are discussed in light of the knowledge about the SiC/SiO2 interface