The Chinese renminbi: what’s real, what’s not

China's recent devaluation and liberalization of its exchange-rate policies will, at best, have only a temporary impact on its trade competitiveness with the United States. The type of exchange-rate regime that a country adopts matters little for its long-term international competitiveness. In addition, the recent focus on China's exchange rate diverts attention from the real problem: China’s command economy.Foreign exchange rates - China

Nondeliverable forwards: can we tell where the renminbi is headed?

Since the early 1990s, international banks have been offering nondeliverable forward (NDF) contracts to clients who need to hedge exposures in currencies of emerging-market economies. Many also use the exchange rate on these contracts as a best guess of where the emerging-market currency is headed. The exchange rates on NDFs, however, likely embody a substantial risk premium that interferes with forecasting accuracy.Foreign exchange rates - China

Investigation of strength of isolated vertebrae, phase IV Final technical report, 29 Oct. 1965 - 28 Oct. 1966

Dynamic strength measurements of human vertebrae under axial compressio

Investigation of strength of isolated vertebrae Quarterly report, 30 Jan. - 29 May 1966

Strength of human vertebrae under various static and dynamic load

Walking on a fence: Brazil’s public-sector debt

Brazil is walking on a fence between sustainable and unsustainable public-debt dynamics. How it treads could affect not only its own economic prosperity but that of its neighbors, emerging markets in general, and U.S. financial institutions in particular. Relatively small improvements in Brazilian economic conditions and a continuation of that country’s recent fiscal improvements could push Brazil in the right direction, particularly if the dollar continues to depreciate.Debts, Public - Brazil ; Economic conditions - Brazil

Disease associated with equine coronavirus infection and high case fatality rate.

BackgroundEquine coronavirus (ECoV) is associated with clinical disease in adult horses. Outbreaks are associated with a low case fatality rate and a small number of animals with signs of encephalopathic disease are described.ObjectivesThe aim of this study is to describe the epidemiological and clinical features of two outbreaks of ECoV infection that were associated with an high case fatality rate.Animals14 miniature horses and 1 miniature donkey testing fecal positive for ECoV from two related disease outbreaks.MethodsRetrospective study describing the epidemiological findings, clinicopathological findings, and fecal viral load from affected horses.ResultsIn EcoV positive horses, 27% (4/15) of the animals died or were euthanized. Severe hyperammonemia (677 μmol/L, reference range ≤ 60 μmol/L) was identified in one animal with signs of encephalopathic disease that subsequently died. Fecal viral load (ECoV genome equivalents per gram of feces) was significantly higher in the nonsurvivors compared to animals that survived (P = .02).Conclusions and clinical importanceEquine coronavirus had a higher case fatality rate in this group of miniature horses than previously reported in other outbreaks of varying breeds. Hyperammonemia could contribute to signs of encephalopathic disease, and the fecal viral load might be of prognostic value in affected horses

Wave packet dynamics of potassium dimers attached to helium nanodroplets

The dynamics of vibrational wave packets excited in K$_2$ dimers attached to superfluid helium nanodroplets is investigated by means of femtosecond pump-probe spectroscopy. The employed resonant three-photon-ionization scheme is studied in a wide wavelength range and different pathways leading to K$^+_2$-formation are identified. While the wave packet dynamics of the electronic ground state is not influenced by the helium environment, perturbations of the electronically excited states are observed. The latter reveal a strong time dependence on the timescale 3-8 ps which directly reflects the dynamics of desorption of K$_2$ off the helium droplets

Education employment linkages: objective two key informant interviews in regional communities

This report documents findings from the Key Informant stage of Objective 2 (Regional Communities) of the Education Employment Linkages research project. In the last quarter of 2009, interviews were conducted with service providers involved in helping young people with few or no qualifications with their post-school transition to tertiary education/training or employment. Those interviewed included providers of education/training (particularly in Private Training Establishments) and of connections services (involved in tracking and referral). Interviews focused on how providers assisted young people with few or no school qualifications to develop vocational imagination and labour market literacy, and how they facilitated linkages between education/training and employment. Three key concerns emerged from the provider perspective: (i) the difficulty of addressing the diverse and interconnected needs of young people in transition when funding is fragmented and siloed ; (ii) the question of whether success is best measured by means of hard outcomes or according to progress towards achievement; (iii) the place, in the wider education sector, of these providers and the young people with whom they are working

Option prices, exchange market intervention, and the higher moment expectations channel: a user’s guide

A vast literature on the effects of sterilized intervention by the monetary authorities in the foreign exchange markets concludes that intervention systematically moves the spot exchange rate only if it is publicly announced, coordinated across countries, and consistent with the underlying stance of fiscal and monetary policy. Over the past fifteen years, researchers have also attempted to determine if intervention has any effects on the dispersion and directionality of market views concerning the future exchange rate. These studies usually focus on the variance around the expected future exchange rate—the second moment. In this paper we demonstrate how to use over-the-counter option prices to recover the risk-neutral probability density function (PDF) for the future exchange rate. Using the yen/dollar exchange rate as an example, we calculate measures of dispersion and directionality, such as variance and skewness, from estimated PDFs to test whether intervention by the Japanese Ministry of Finance had any impact on the higher moments of the exchange rate. We find little or no systematic effect, consistent with the findings of the literature on the spot rate as Japanese intervention during the period 1996-2004 was not publicly announced, rarely coordinated across countries and, in hindsight, probably inconsistent with the underlying stance of monetary policy.Options (Finance) ; Foreign exchange administration

Peptide transport by embryos of germinating barley (hordeum vulgare)

Two new fluorescent-labelling techniques for studying peptide transport are described. A peptide transport system has been demonstrated in a higher plant tissue, the scutellum of germinating barley embryos. This system has been extensively characterized, and found to have many similarities to peptide transport systems in microorganisms and mammalian tissues. Evidence has also been obtained for the existence of a peptide transport system in the membrane of an intracellular organelle, possibly the vacuole. Peptide transport is an active process and appears to require the production of a proton gradient across the plasmalemma. Disruption of the proton gradient not only inhibits peptide transport, but also causes general exodus of amino acids from the embryo and affects amino acid metabolism. Considerable pools of small peptides have been detected in both the endosperm and embryo of the germinating barley grain. The concentrations of peptides achieved in the endo sperm are of the right order of magnitude for the efficient operation of the peptide transport system. It seems that the uptake of small peptides by the scutellum of germinating barley embryos is of considerable importance in the transfer of nitrogen from the endosperm to the embryo during the iLobilization of zhe protein storage reserves