CES technology and business cycle fluctuations

We contribute to an emerging literature that brings the constant elasticity of substitution (CES) specification of the production function into the analysis of business cycle fluctuations. Using US data, we estimate by Bayesian-Maximum-Likelihood methods a standard medium-sized DSGE model with a CES rather than Cobb-Douglas (CD) technology. We estimate a elasticity of substitution between capital and labour well below unity at 0.15–0.18. In a marginal likelihood race CES decisively beats the CD production and this is matched by its ability to fit the data better in terms of second moments. We show that this result is mainly driven by the implied fluctuations of factor shares under the CES specification. The CES model performance is further improved when the estimation is carried out under an imperfect information assumption. Hence the main message for DSGE models is that we should dismiss once and for all the use of CD for business cycle analysis

A Novel Borna Disease Virus Vector System That Stably Expresses Foreign Proteins from an Intercistronic Noncoding Region▿

Borna disease virus (BDV), a nonsegmented, negative-strand RNA virus, infects a wide variety of mammalian species and readily establishes a long-lasting, persistent infection in brain cells. Therefore, this virus could be a promising candidate as a novel RNA virus vector enabling stable gene expression in the central nervous system (CNS). Previous studies demonstrated that the 5′ untranslated region of the genome is the only site for insertion and expression of a foreign gene. In this study, we established a novel BDV vector in which an additional transcription cassette has been inserted into an intercistronic noncoding region between the viral phosphoprotein (P) and matrix (M) genes. The recombinant BDV (rBDV) carrying green fluorescent protein (GFP) between the P and M genes, rBDV P/M-GFP, expressed GFP efficiently in cultured cells and rodent brains for a long period of time without attenuation. Furthermore, we generated a nonpropagating rBDV, ΔGLLP/M, which lacks the envelope glycoprotein (G) and a splicing intron within the polymerase gene (L), by the transcomplementation system with either transient or stable expression of the G gene. Interestingly, rBDV ΔGLLP/M established a persistent infection in cultured cells with stable expression of GFP in the absence of the expression of G. Using persistently infected rBDV ΔGLLP/M-infected cells, we determined the amino acid region in the cytoplasmic tail (CT) of BDV G important for the release of infectious rBDV particles and also demonstrated that the CT region may be critical for the generation of pseudotyped rBDV having vesicular stomatitis virus G protein. Our results revealed that the newly established BDV vector constitutes an alternative tool not only for stable expression of foreign genes in the CNS but also for understanding the mechanism of the release of enveloped virions

Life expectancy, money, and growth

Economic growth, Life expectancy, Money, D91, E31, J11,

Intensive Care and Vitamin D Status

Vitamin D has receptors in a vast majority of cells, and thus a normal vitamin D state is preferable to ensure an adequate function and appropriate response of the different receptors to a multitude of changes, namely, in critical illness. Vitamin D has many sources and exists in two different forms. Vitamin D state is divided into sufficient, insufficient, and deficient, and the variety in levels depends on plenty of factors, including the role of vitamin D-binding protein and possible influences from testing assays. Other possibilities that may take place in case of acute illness are also taken into consideration and discussed here. This chapter deals with the general aspects of vitamin D role in acute illness and how a replete state may affect the outcomes. The prevalence of vitamin D deficiency in critical illness and the frequency of testing and correction in case of deficiency are all considered here. ▶Chapter 67, “Specific Considerations Relevant to Critical Illness” by Dr. Amrein et al., discusses specific considerations of critical illness where vitamin D may have a role

Virus stamping for targeted single-cell infection in vitro and in vivo

ISSN:1546-1696ISSN:1087-015