Along the New Keynesian Phillips curve with nominal and real rigidities

The new Keynesian Phillips curve (NKPC) has become central to monetary theory and policy. A seemingly benign NKPC prediction is that trend shocks dominate price level fluctuations at all forecast horizons. Since the NKPC cycle of the U.S. GDP deflator peaks at each of the last seven NBER dated recessions, support for the NKPC is limited. The authors develop monetary business cycle models that contain different combinations of nominal (sticky-price) and real (labor market search) rigidities to understand this puzzle. Simulations indicate that a model combining labor market search and flexible prices is better able to match actual price level movements than sticky-price models do. This model represents a challenge to claims that sticky prices are a key part of the monetary transmission mechanism.

Astrotech 21: A technology program for future astrophysics missions

The Astrotech 21 technology program is being formulated to enable a program of advanced astrophysical observatories in the first decade of the 21st century. This paper describes the objectives of Astrotech 21 and the process that NASA is using to plan and implement it. It also describes the future astrophysical mission concepts that have been defined for the twenty-first century and discusses some of the requirements that they will impose on information systems for space astrophysics

The RNA Polymerase II Core Promoter in Drosophila.

Transcription by RNA polymerase II initiates at the core promoter, which is sometimes referred to as the "gateway to transcription." Here, we describe the properties of the RNA polymerase II core promoter in Drosophila The core promoter is at a strategic position in the expression of genes, as it is the site of convergence of the signals that lead to transcriptional activation. Importantly, core promoters are diverse in terms of their structure and function. They are composed of various combinations of sequence motifs such as the TATA box, initiator (Inr), and downstream core promoter element (DPE). Different types of core promoters are transcribed via distinct mechanisms. Moreover, some transcriptional enhancers exhibit specificity for particular types of core promoters. These findings indicate that the core promoter is a central component of the transcriptional apparatus that regulates gene expression