734 research outputs found
Welfare Effects of Fiscal Policy under Alternative Exchange Rate Regimes : The Role of the Scale Variable of Money Demand
This paper investigates the implications of alternative scale variables of money demand for the comparison of a flexible exchange rate regime with a monetary union in a NOEM setup. The welfare evaluation of exchange rate regimes depends on the exchange rate response under the flexible regime. When the scale variable is private consumption, a domestic fiscal expansion yields a depreciation. As the associated expenditure switching and terms-of-trade effects are beneficial to the domestic country, households prefer flexible exchange rates. However, when the scale variable is total absorption, we obtain an appreciation and the welfare results are reversed. --Fiscal Policy,New Open Economy Macroeconomics,Money Demand Specification,Flexible Exchange Rates,Monetary Union,Pricing-to-Market
The ambivalence of two-part tariffs for bottleneck access
Two-part tariffs, when used at the retail level, increase efficiency by lowering the price of marginal
units. The same potential for higher efficiency exists for two-part tariffs at wholesale level for a given
market structure, but the fixed part of the wholesale tariff can negatively affect the latter. In a
simulated competition model of next-generation telecommunications access networks that has been
calibrated with engineering cost data, we show that the latter effects strongly outweigh the former.
That is, substituting a cost-based linear wholesale access tariff with revenue-equivalent two-part
tariffs reduces the number of access seekers and therefore leads to higher prices and lower welfare
and consumer surplus
Trastuzumab (Herceptin (R)): Monoclonal antibody in the treatment of HER2/neu-overexpressing breast cancer in the metastatic and (neo)adjuvant situation
Trastuzumab (Herceptin (R)) is a humanized monoclonal antibody that specifically targets HER2/neu (human epidermal growth factor receptor-2) breast cancer cells, which are overexpressed in about 25-30% of breast carcinomas. After phase I and II trials, several phase III studies of trastuzumab alone or in combination with various chemotherapies were conducted. Patients with HER2/neu overexpression levels of 3+ determined by immunohistochemical assay or gene amplification (fluorescence in situ hybridization) derive most clinical benefit from trastuzumab. Taking into consideration efficacy and side effect profile, the combination of trastuzumab and paclitaxel showed an improvement of all clinical parameters, including overall survival, for the first time in the history of palliative breast cancer therapy. The application of trastuzumab has meanwhile become an established part of systemic therapy of metastastic breast cancer, and excellent data of its application in the adjuvant setting now exist (NSABP-B31, NCCTG-N9831, HERA), with significantly better relapse-free survival in the treatment arms with trastuzumab. Ongoing trials investigate the role of trastuzumab in the neoadjuvant setting. Trastuzumab is generally well tolerated. Cardiotoxicity is the main concern, thus monitoring of cardiac function is recommended
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Off-grid: solar powered LED illumination impacts epigeal arthropods
Advances in LED technology combined with solar, storable energy bring light to places remote from electricity grids. Worldwide more than 1.3 billion of people are living off-grid, often in developing regions of high insect biodiversity. In developed countries, dark refuges for wildlife are threatened by ornamental garden lights. Solar powered LEDs (SPLEDs) are cheaply available, dim, and often used to illuminate foot paths, but little is known on their effects on ground living (epigeal) arthropods. We used off-the-shelf garden lamps with a single ‘white’ LED (colour temperature 7250 K) to experimentally investigate effects on attraction and nocturnal activity of ground beetles (Carabidae). We found two disparate and species-specific effects of SPLEDs. (i) Some nocturnal, phototactic species were not reducing activity under illumination and were strongly attracted to lamps (>20-fold increase in captures compared to dark controls). Such species aggregate in lit areas and SPLEDs may become ecological traps, while the species is drawn from nearby, unlit assemblages. (ii) Other nocturnal species were reducing mobility and activity under illumination without being attracted to light, which may cause fitness reduction in lit areas. Both reactions offer mechanistic explanations on how outdoor illumination can change population densities of specific predatory arthropods, which may have cascading effects on epigeal arthropod assemblages. The technology may thus increase the area of artificial light at night (ALAN) impacting insect biodiversity. Measures are needed to mitigate effects, such as adjustment of light colour temperature and automated switch-offs
Spectrally narrow, long-term stable optical frequency reference based on a Eu:YSiO crystal at cryogenic temperature
Using an ultrastable continuous-wave laser at 580 nm we performed spectral
hole burning of Eu:YSiO at very high spectral resolution.
Essential parameters determining the usefulness as a "macroscopic" frequency
reference: linewidth, temperature sensitivity, long-term stability were
characterized, using a H-maser stabilized frequency comb. Spectral holes with
linewidth as low as 6 kHz were observed and the upper limit of the drift of the
hole frequency was determined to be on the order of 53 mHz/s. We discuss
necessary requirements for achieving ultra-high-stability in laser frequency
stabilization to these spectral holes.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure
Welfare effects of fiscal policy under alternative exchange rate regimes: the role of the scale variable of money demand
This paper investigates the implications of alternative scale variables of money demand for the comparison of a flexible exchange rate regime with a monetary union in a NOEM setup. The welfare evaluation of exchange rate regimes depends on the exchange rate response under the flexible regime. When the scale variable is private consumption, a domestic fiscal expansion yields a depreciation. As the associated expenditure switching and terms-of-trade effects are beneficial to the domestic country, households prefer flexible exchange rates. However, when the scale variable is total absorption, we obtain an appreciation and the welfare results are reversed
Gender differences in myocardial salvage and clinical outcome in patients with acute reperfused ST-elevation myocardial infarction
Computation of conservation laws in optimal control
Making use of a computer algebra system, we define computational tools to identify symmetries and conservation laws in optimal control
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