Intertemporal adjustment and fiscal policy under a fixed exchange rate regime

The paper presents a dynamic model for small to medium open economies operating under a fixed exchange rate regime. The model provides a partial explanation of the channels through which fiscal and monetary policy affects the real exchange rate. An empirical investigation is conducted for the case of Argentina during the currency board period of 1991-2001. Empirical estimates show that fiscal policy may indeed be an efficient instrument for promoting macroeconomic stability insofar as it encourages convergence toward long-run equilibrium and alters the long-term balance between exports and consumption, both private and public. The simulation applied to Argentina shows that if the share of public spending in the economy is higher than the share of imports, an increase in the tax rate will stimulate capital stock slightly, at least in the short term, anddepreciate the real effective exchange rate. In the long run, the fiscal policy affects the value of the real exchange rate and consequently external competitiveness.Currencies and Exchange Rates,Economic Stabilization,Debt Markets,Economic Theory&Research,Emerging Markets

Nearfield Acoustic Holography using sparsity and compressive sampling principles

Regularization of the inverse problem is a complex issue when using Near-field Acoustic Holography (NAH) techniques to identify the vibrating sources. This paper shows that, for convex homogeneous plates with arbitrary boundary conditions, new regularization schemes can be developed, based on the sparsity of the normal velocity of the plate in a well-designed basis, i.e. the possibility to approximate it as a weighted sum of few elementary basis functions. In particular, these new techniques can handle discontinuities of the velocity field at the boundaries, which can be problematic with standard techniques. This comes at the cost of a higher computational complexity to solve the associated optimization problem, though it remains easily tractable with out-of-the-box software. Furthermore, this sparsity framework allows us to take advantage of the concept of Compressive Sampling: under some conditions on the sampling process (here, the design of a random array, which can be numerically and experimentally validated), it is possible to reconstruct the sparse signals with significantly less measurements (i.e., microphones) than classically required. After introducing the different concepts, this paper presents numerical and experimental results of NAH with two plate geometries, and compares the advantages and limitations of these sparsity-based techniques over standard Tikhonov regularization.Comment: Journal of the Acoustical Society of America (2012

One-shot measurement of the three-dimensional electromagnetic field scattered by a subwavelength aperture tip coupled to the environment

International audienceNear-field scanning optical microscopy (NSOM) achieves subwavelength resolution by bringing a nanosized probe close to the surface of the sample. This extends the spectrum of spatial frequencies that can be detected with respect to a diffraction limited microscope. The interaction of the probe with the sample is expected to affect its radiation to the far field in a way that is often hard to predict. Here we address this question by proposing a general method based on full-field off-axis digital holography microscopy which enables to study in detail the far-field radiation from a NSOM probe as a function of its environment. A first application is demonstrated by performing a three-dimensional (3D) tomographic reconstruction of light scattered from the sub-wavelength aperture tip of a NSOM, in free space or coupled to transparent and plasmonic media. A single holographic image recorded in one shot in the far field contains information on both the amplitude and phase of the scattered light. This is sufficient to reverse numerically the propagation of the electromagnetic field all the way to the aperture tip. Finite Difference Time Domain (FDTD) simulations are performed to compare the experimental results with a superposition of magnetic and electric dipole radiation

In the Shadow of Akimbo Corporatism: Arched Athleticism and the 'Becoming-Human' of a People.

The importance of Deleuze and Deleuze and Guattari’s development of ‘encounter’ is brought into sharp relief as key to the notion of ‘athleticism’. Here, both are developed as indispensable to each other, forming an a-radical/ana-material groundless ground to power, politics, literary sensibility, indeed sense itself – though all played in a minor key. It is a nuanced encounter which, at one and the same time, if working as encounter, produces an acephaletic knowledge, a body-knowledge, without the Ego-I. This, in itself would have been enough. But in an age of massifying systems, drone warfare and horrific migrations, where corporate tentacles bend the rules akimbo, one finds that this turn to a Deleuzean athleticism offers a different kind of political analysis, a radical difference, which, despite (or because of) the odds, enables a politics of hope and indeed, of a ‘becoming-human’

Becoming-Bertha: virtual difference and repetition in postcolonial 'writing back', a Deleuzian reading of Jean Rhys’s Wide Sargasso Sea

Critical responses to Wide Sargasso Sea have seized upon Rhys’s novel as an exemplary model of writing back. Looking beyond the actual repetitions which recall Brontë’s text, I explore Rhys’s novel as an expression of virtual difference and becomings that exemplify Deleuze’s three syntheses of time. Elaborating the processes of becoming that Deleuze’s third synthesis depicts, Antoinette’s fate emerges not as a violence against an original identity. Rather, what the reader witnesses is a series of becomings or masks, some of which are validated, some of which are not, and it is in the rejection of certain masks, forcing Antoinette to become-Bertha, that the greatest violence lies

Facilitators and barriers to KMC practice: an umbrella review protocol

Introduction: Kangaroo Mother Care (KMC) is a special care technique for preterm and low birth weight newborns that has been extended to full-term newborns. KMC was originally understood as skin-to-skin contact. For some years now, its practice has been extended: in addition to the skin-to-skin contact, it includes exclusive breastfeeding, and follow-up of newborns. There are several reviews on the facilitators and barriers of each of these aspects separately, but none integrate the three aspects together. Objective: The purpose of this umbrella review is to summarize the evidence about the facilitators and barriers to KMC practice for premature babies. Inclusion criteria: The umbrella review will include scoping reviews and systematic reviews of quantitative and qualitative studies examining facilitators and barriers of skin-to-skin contact, breastfeeding, and follow-up of premature babies. Methods: Databases to be searched will include MEDLINE, CINAHL, Embase, Scopus, PsycINFO, JBI Evidence Synthesis, and Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. Two independent reviewers will screen titles, abstracts, and full-text articles, and perform data extraction and quality assessment of included studies. The extracted data will include specific details about the study characteristics (e.g. setting/context, participants, and phenomena of interest). Findings from the included reviews, as they relate to the umbrella review question, will be presented in tabular format, and accompanied with a supplemental narrative synthesis. If possible, evidence will be compared according to study design, type of facilitator or barrier, level of facilitator or barrier (parent, health professionals, health institutions, health policy).3. Good health and well-bein

Brain source localization using a physics-driven structured cosparse representation of EEG signals

International audienceLocalizing several potentially synchronous brain activities with low signal-to-noise ratio from ElectroEncephaloGraphic (EEG) recordings is a challenging problem. In this paper we propose a novel source localization method, named CoRE, which uses a Cosparse Representation of EEG signals. The underlying analysis operator is derived from physical laws satisfied by EEG signals, and more particularly from Poisson's equation. In addition, we show how physiological constraints on sources, leading to a given space support and fixed orientations for current dipoles, can be taken into account in the optimization scheme. Computer results, aiming at showing the feasability of the CoRE technique, illustrate its superiority in terms of estimation accuracy over dictionary-based sparse methods and subspace approaches

Perinatal Mortality in Eastern Uganda: A Community Based Prospective Cohort Study

To achieve a child mortality reduction according to millennium development goal 4, it is necessary to considerably reduce neonatal mortality. We report stillbirth and early neonatal mortality risks as well as determinants of perinatal mortality in Eastern Uganda.A community-based prospective cohort study was conducted between 2006 and 2008. A total of 835 pregnant women were followed up for pregnancy outcome and survival of their children until 7 days after delivery. Mother's residence, age, parity, bed net use and whether delivery took place at home were included in multivariable regression analyses to identify risk factors for perinatal death.The stillbirth risk was 19 per 1,000 pregnancies and the early neonatal death risk 22 per 1,000 live births. Overall, the perinatal mortality risk was 41 [95%CI: 27, 54] per 1,000 pregnancies. Of the deaths, 47% followed complicated deliveries and 24% preterm births. Perinatal mortality was 63/1,000 pregnancies among teenage mothers, 76/1,000 pregnancies among nulliparous women and 61/1,000 pregnancies among women delivering at home who, after controlling for potential confounders, had a 3.7 (95%CI: 1.8, 7.4) times higher perinatal mortality than women who gave birth in a health facility. This association was considerably stronger among nulliparous women [RR 8.0 (95%CI: 2.9, 21.6)] than among women with a previous live birth [RR 1.8 (95%CI: 0.7, 4.5)]. All perinatal deaths occurred among women who did not sleep under a mosquito net. Women living in urban slums had a higher risk of losing their babies than those in rural areas [RR: 2.7 (95%CI: 1.4, 5.3)].Our findings strengthen arguments for ensuring that pregnant women have access to and use adequate delivery facilities and bed nets