Restricted Bailouts and the Commitment Problem in Federations

Standard models of soft budget constraints consider bailouts as pure monetary transfers. However, in practice often additional obligations or restrictions, such as savings goals, are linked to monetary bailouts. This paper analyzes in a model of a federation if such restrictions change eco- nomic outcomes in an soft budget constraint environment and under what circumstances they can increase welfare as compared to pure soft budget and hard budget regimes. We ?nd that restrictions generally harden budget constraints, but not necessarily increase welfare. The evaluation crucially depends on the tax endowment of the central government and on the shape of preferences.bailouts, soft budget constraints, federalism

The Timing of Elections in Federations : A Disciplining Device against Soft Budget Constraints ?

We introduce political economics into the soft budget constraint problem by asking if the timing of elections has the potential to harden budget constraints. Specifically, we ask under which circumstances the soft budget constraint problem is worse - with synchronized elections, i.e. simultaneous central and regional office terms, or with staggered elections, i.e. terms of office that do not coincide. We find that staggered elections clearly improve fiscal discipline at the local level as well as welfare.Soft budget constraints, fiscal federalism, elections.

Restricted Bailouts and the Commitment Problem in Federations

Standard models of soft budget constraints consider bailouts as pure monetary transfers. However, in practice often additional obligations or restrictions, such as savings goals, are linked to monetary bailouts. This paper analyzes in a model of a federation if such restrictions change economic outcomes in an soft budget constraint environment and under what circumstances they can increase welfare as compared to pure soft budget and hard budget regimes. We find that restrictions generally harden budget constraints, but not necessarily increase welfare. The evaluation crucially depends on the tax endowment of the central government and on the shape of preferences

Bailouts in Federations

This dissertation deals with the topic of bailouts in federations. Institutions and instruments helping to alleviate the incentive problems arising from bailouts are analyzed. In particular, the role of the timing of elections, bailout restrictions and the exploitation of budgetary information from comparable jurisdictions is considered.Federations; Bailouts; Commitment Problem; Timing of Elections; Budgetary Crisis

The Timing of Elections in Federations : A Disciplining Device against Soft Budget Constraints ?

URL des Documents de travail : http://ces.univ-paris1.fr/cesdp/CESFramDP2010.htmDocuments de travail du Centre d'Economie de la Sorbonne 2010.36 - ISSN : 1955-611XWe introduce political economics into the soft budget constraint problem by asking if the timing of elections has the potential to harden budget constraints. Specifically, we ask under which circumstances the soft budget constraint problem is worse - with synchronized elections, i.e. simultaneous central and regional office terms, or with staggered elections, i.e. terms of office that do not coincide. We find that staggered elections clearly improve fiscal discipline at the local level as well as welfare.Dans cet article, nous introduisons des éléments d'économie politique dans un problème de contrainte budgétaire molle en étudiant si l'organisation simultanée ou décalée des élections nationales et locales a un impact sur la discipline budgétaire des gouvernements locaux. Nous montrons que des élections décalées permettent très clairement de durcir la contrainte budgétaire molle et améliorent le bien-être des agents de la fédération. Ce résultat s'explique par le fait que le gouvernement central bénéficie d'une position de leadership en élections décalées qui permet de contenir le comportement opportuniste des gouvernements locaux

"Oko zalśnione w ciągłym zachwycie" o barokowych inspiracjach w twórczości Juliusza Słowackiego sprzed mistycznego przeżycia w Pornic

Kunszt i wirtuozeria – te dwie cechy poezji Słowackiego zmusiły Mickiewicza, by nawet w dyskredytującej opinii o twórczości młodszego kolegi oddał sprawiedliwość najwyższemu artyzmowi jego języka poetyckiego. Maestria, z jaką Słowacki panuje nad słowem i obrazem, brawura w tworzeniu literackich przestrzeni, jednoczesny rozmach i perfekcja kreacji, przejawiająca się w dopracowanej konstrukcji i misternym wykończeniu nawet najdrobniejszych elementów – to istota poetyckich światów Słowackiego. Nawarstwiona, spiętrzona barokowość tworzy obraz migotliwy i złudny, jednak za mieniącą się, wielobarwną kurtyną iluzji kryje się brylantowy rdzeń prawdy, olśniewający i zdumiewający jeszcze silniej, niż okalające go łudząco piękne pozory. „Oko zalśnione” sugeruje po pierwsze sposób, a po drugie intensywność wizualnego oddziaływania na wyobraźnię. Imaginacja odbiorcy nie ma być ekranem, na który zostanie rzucony – niczym slajd – konkretny obraz poetyckiego świata. Pomyślana jest raczej jako nieokreślona siła kreatywna, dla której pożywką są wrażenia wzrokowe, impresje. Poetyckie światy nie są stworzone raz na zawsze – pozostają w ruchu, podlegają zmianom w ciągłym dialogu z odbiorcą, na styku sfer wyobraźni poety i czytelnika. Tak rozumiana komunikacja jest bowiem „drogą poznania i sposobem kreacji zarazem” – nie tylko w kontekście mistycznym

Targeting self- and foreign antigens to dendritic cells via DC-ASGPR generates IL-10-producing suppressive CD4+ T cells

Dendritic cells (DCs) can initiate and shape host immune responses toward either immunity or tolerance by their effects on antigen-specific CD4(+) T cells. DC-asialoglycoprotein receptor (DC-ASGPR), a lectinlike receptor, is a known scavenger receptor. Here, we report that targeting antigens to human DCs via DC-ASGPR, but not lectin-like oxidized-LDL receptor, Dectin-1, or DC-specific ICAM-3-grabbing nonintegrin favors the generation of antigen-specific suppressive CD4(+) T cells that produce interleukin 10 (IL-10). These findings apply to both self-and foreign antigens, as well as memory and naive CD4(+) T cells. The generation of such IL-10-producing CD4(+) T cells requires p38/extracellular signal-regulated kinase phosphorylation and IL-10 induction in DCs. We further demonstrate that immunization of nonhuman primates with antigens fused to anti-DC-ASGPR monoclonal antibody generates antigen-specific CD4(+) T cells that produce IL-10 in vivo. This study provides a new strategy for the establishment of antigen-specific IL-10-producing suppressive T cells in vivo by targeting whole protein antigens to DCs via DC-ASGPR

Designer Lipid-Like Peptides: A Class of Detergents for Studying Functional Olfactory Receptors Using Commercial Cell-Free Systems

A crucial bottleneck in membrane protein studies, particularly G-protein coupled receptors, is the notorious difficulty of finding an optimal detergent that can solubilize them and maintain their stability and function. Here we report rapid production of 12 unique mammalian olfactory receptors using short designer lipid-like peptides as detergents. The peptides were able to solubilize and stabilize each receptor. Circular dichroism showed that the purified olfactory receptors had alpha-helical secondary structures. Microscale thermophoresis suggested that the receptors were functional and bound their odorants. Blot intensity measurements indicated that milligram quantities of each olfactory receptor could be produced with at least one peptide detergent. The peptide detergents' capability was comparable to that of the detergent Brij-35. The ability of 10 peptide detergents to functionally solubilize 12 olfactory receptors demonstrates their usefulness as a new class of detergents for olfactory receptors, and possibly other G-protein coupled receptors and membrane proteins.United States. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA-HR0011-09-C-0012)Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Undergraduate Research Opportunities Progra

Influence of mitochondrial genome rearrangement on cucumber leaf carbon and nitrogen metabolism

The MSC16 cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) mitochondrial mutant was used to study the effect of mitochondrial dysfunction and disturbed subcellular redox state on leaf day/night carbon and nitrogen metabolism. We have shown that the mitochondrial dysfunction in MSC16 plants had no effect on photosynthetic CO2 assimilation, but the concentration of soluble carbohydrates and starch was higher in leaves of MSC16 plants. Impaired mitochondrial respiratory chain activity was associated with the perturbation of mitochondrial TCA cycle manifested, e.g., by lowered decarboxylation rate. Mitochondrial dysfunction in MSC16 plants had different influence on leaf cell metabolism under dark or light conditions. In the dark, when the main mitochondrial function is the energy production, the altered activity of TCA cycle in mutated plants was connected with the accumulation of pyruvate and TCA cycle intermediates (citrate and 2-OG). In the light, when TCA activity is needed for synthesis of carbon skeletons required as the acceptors for NH4+ assimilation, the concentration of pyruvate and TCA intermediates was tightly coupled with nitrate metabolism. Enhanced incorporation of ammonium group into amino acids structures in mutated plants has resulted in decreased concentration of organic acids and accumulation of Glu

Clinical correlates and prognostic impact of neurologic disorders in Takotsubo syndrome

© The Author(s) 2021. Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.Cardiac alterations are frequently observed after acute neurological disorders. Takotsubo syndrome (TTS) represents an acute heart failure syndrome and is increasingly recognized as part of the spectrum of cardiac complications observed after neurological disorders. A systematic investigation of TTS patients with neurological disorders has not been conducted yet. The aim of the study was to expand insights regarding neurological disease entities triggering TTS and to investigate the clinical profile and outcomes of TTS patients after primary neurological disorders. The International Takotsubo Registry is an observational multicenter collaborative effort of 45 centers in 14 countries (ClinicalTrials.gov, identifier NCT01947621). All patients in the registry fulfilled International Takotsubo Diagnostic Criteria. For the present study, patients were included if complete information on acute neurological disorders were available. 2402 patients in whom complete information on acute neurological status were available were analyzed. In 161 patients (6.7%) an acute neurological disorder was identified as the preceding triggering factor. The most common neurological disorders were seizures, intracranial hemorrhage, and ischemic stroke. Time from neurological symptoms to TTS diagnosis was ≤ 2 days in 87.3% of cases. TTS patients with neurological disorders were younger, had a lower female predominance, fewer cardiac symptoms, lower left ventricular ejection fraction, and higher levels of cardiac biomarkers. TTS patients with neurological disorders had a 3.2-fold increased odds of in-hospital mortality compared to TTS patients without neurological disorders. In this large-scale study, 1 out of 15 TTS patients had an acute neurological condition as the underlying triggering factor. Our data emphasize that a wide spectrum of neurological diseases ranging from benign to life-threatening encompass TTS. The high rates of adverse events highlight the need for clinical awareness.The International Takotsubo Registry was supported by the Biss Davies Charitable Trust. Dr. Scheitz has been supported by the Corona Foundation. Dr. Templin has been supported by the H.H. Sheikh Khalifa bin Hamad Al-Thani Research Programme and the Swiss Heart Foundation.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio