On the Instability of Fractional Reserve Banking

This paper develops a dynamic monetary model to study the (in)stability of the fractional reserve banking system. The model shows that the fractional reserve banking system can endanger stability in that equilibrium is more prone to exhibit endogenous cyclic, chaotic, and stochastic dynamics under lower reserve requirements, although it can increase consumption in the steady-state. Introducing endogenous unsecured credit to the baseline model does not change the main results. This paper also provides empirical evidence that is consistent with the prediction of the model. The calibrated exercise suggests that this channel could be another source of economic fluctuations

Use of Beaufort Sea as feeding habitat by bowhead whales (Balaena mysticetus) as indicated by stable isotope ratios

Thesis (M.S.) University of Alaska Fairbanks, 2000The feeding habitats of the Western Arctic bowhead whales (Balaena mysticetus) during summer are generally known, but the precise amounts of food consumed from the eastern Beaufort Sea (EBS) are not known. [Alpha]13C and [alpha]15N ratios in whale tissues were used to estimate the amounts of food required from EBS. The feeding strategies of adults and subadults were also compared. For all whales, the [alpha]13C values in muscle sampled in fall were not significantly different from those in the muscle sampled in spring, indicating most food of adults and subadults comes from the Bering/Chukchi seas. The ¹³C data from baleen showed, however, that EBS may be a significant feeding area for subadults. [alpha]15N values are significantly different between fall and spring muscle in subadults, suggesting a shift to different prey and/or nutritional stress during winter followed by feeding in EBS in summer

Characterising and Mapping Porcine Endogenous Retroviruses (PERVs)

The initial focus of this PhD project was on comparative gene mapping. Comparative gene mapping is facilitated by consensus PCR primers which amplify homologous gene fragments in many species. As a part of an international co-ordinated programme of comparative mapping in pigs, 47 CATS (Comparative Anchor Tagged Sequence) consensus primer pairs for loci located on human chromosomes 9, 10, 20, and 22, were used for amplifying homologous loci in pigs. After optimization of PCR conditions, 23 CATS products have confirmed by comparison with homologous sequences in GenBank. A French somatic cell hybrid panel was used to physically map the 6 porcine CATS products distinguishable from rodent background product, namely ADRA1A, ADRA2A, ARSA, GNAS1, OXT and TOP1. Of these, the map location of ADRA1A and OXT showed inconsistency with the previously recognised conserved relationship between human and pig. The other four loci mapped to positions consistent with known syntenic relationships. Despite low levels of polymorphism, frequently indistinguishable rodent and porcine products in somatic hybrids and some confusion of identity of gene family members, these CATS primers have made a useful contribution to the porcine-human comparative map. The focus of the project then changed to genetic and molecular characterisation of endogenous retroviruses in pigs and their relatives. Pigs are regarded as a potentially good source of organs and tissues for transplantation into humans. However, porcine endogenous retroviruses have emerged as a possible problem as they can infect cultured human cells. Two main types of pig retrovirus, determined by envelope protein, PERV-A and PERV-B, are widely distributed in different pig breeds and a third less common type, PERV-C, has also been recognised. Endogenous retroviruses were analyzed from the Westran (Westmead transplantation) inbred line of pig, specially bred for biomedical research. Thirty-one 1.8 kb env PCR product clones were sequenced after preliminary screening with the restriction enzymes KpnI and MboI. Five recombinant clones between A and B were identified. 55% of clones (17/31) sequenced had stop codons within the envelope protein-encoding region, which would prevent the retrovirus from making full-length envelope protein recognizable by cell-surface receptors of the virus. The endogenous viruses were physically mapped in Westran pigs by FISH (Fluorescence In Situ Hybridisation) using PERV-A and PERV-B envelope clones as probes. Preliminary FISH data suggest that there are at least 22 PERVs (13 PERV-A and 9 PERV-B) and the chromosomal locations of these in the Westran strain are quite different from European Large White pigs. The sequences and mapping results of inbred Westran pig suggest that there are relatively few PERV integration sites compared with commercial pigs and further that a large proportion of clones are defective due to premature stop codons in the envelope gene. To investigate the relationship of endogenous retroviruses in peccaries and pigs, a set of degenerate primers was used to amplify peccary retroviral sequences. The sequences of two putative retroviral clones showed close homology, albeit with a 534 bp deletion, to mouse and pig retroviral sequences. Also, four non-target sequences were amplified from peccary with the degenerate retroviral primers. They are a part of the peccary cofilin gene, a SINE, and a sequence containing a microsatellite. The peccary endogenous retroviral sequences are significant in that they are the first such sequences reported in peccary species and repudiate old claims in the literature that peccaries do not have C-type retroviral sequences

Current Primary Production Rates Of The Western Arctic Ocean Estimated By Stable Carbon And Nitrogen Isotope Tracers

Thesis (Ph.D.) University of Alaska Fairbanks, 2005Currently, the environments in the Arctic are rapidly changing. These changes of climate and ice conditions may alter the quantity, quality, and timing of production of ice algae and phytoplankton in the Arctic Ocean. The objectives in this study were to detect any change in the carbon production between current and previous studies and lay the groundwork for the future monitoring of ecosystem response to climate change in the different regions of the western Arctic Ocean. As an Arctic ocean mostly covered by multi or first-year ice, the deep Canada Basin had generally low photosynthetic rates and the maximum rates were found between 50 and 60 m in the basin. Based on the percentage of ice cover, the annual production ranged from 3 to 7.5 g C m-2 Z in the basin. Nutrients appear to be a main limiting factor at surface, whereas the phytoplankton activity might be limited by the low light in the Chl a-max layer. At the surface below the ice, photosynthetic activity might be controlled by both low light and nutrients. Studies of ice algae and phytoplankton at the first-year sea ice of Barrow in Alaska showed that bottom sea ice algae and phytoplankton are limited mainly by light. Therefore, the current downward trend of sea ice thickness and extent in Arctic Oceans might cause an increase in primary production or/and change in timing of the production. In addition, the composition in macromolecules of primary producers might be changed under the current ice conditions and thus nutritional status of higher trophic levels might be altered. As shallow shelf regions, Bering Strait/Chukchi Sea showed that the range of nitrate in the central Chukchi Sea was rather higher whereas the biomass of phytoplankton was lower in this study than in previous studies. Consistently, the mean carbon and nitrogen productivities from this study were almost half of values from previous studies. In conclusion, it appears that lower phytoplankton biomass in Bering Strait and the Chukchi Sea resulted in the lower carbon and nitrogen uptake rates and consequently more unused nitrate in the regions

Identification of SNPs in TG and EDG1 genes and their relationships with carcass traits in Korean cattle (Hanwoo)

Thyroglobulin (TG) gene was known to be regulated fat cell growth and differentiation and the endothelial differentiation sphingolipid G-protein-coupled receptor 1 (EDG1) gene involves blood vessel formation and known to be affecting carcass traits in beef cattle. The aim of this study was to identify the single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in both TG and EDG1 genes and to analyze the association with carcass traits in Korean cattle (Hanwoo). The T354C SNP in TG gene located at the 3’ flanking region and c.-312A>G SNP located at 3’-UTR of EDG1 gene were used for genotyping the animals using PCR-RFLP method. Three genotypes were identified in T354C SNP in TG gene and only two AA and AG genotypes were observed for the c.-312A>G SNP in EDG1 gene. The results indicated that T354C SNP in TG gene was not significantly associated with carcass traits. However, the c.-312A>G SNP in EDG1 gene had significant effects on backfat thickness (BF) and yield index (YI). These results may provide valuable information for further candidate gene studies affecting carcass traits in Korean cattle and may use as marker assisted selection for improving the quality of meat in Hanwoo. Key words : TG, EDG1, Carcass traits, Hanwo

Detection of Sensor Attack and Resilient State Estimation for Uniformly Observable Nonlinear Systems having Redundant Sensors

This paper presents a detection algorithm for sensor attacks and a resilient state estimation scheme for a class of uniformly observable nonlinear systems. An adversary is supposed to corrupt a subset of sensors with the possibly unbounded signals, while the system has sensor redundancy. We design an individual high-gain observer for each measurement output so that only the observable portion of the system state is obtained. Then, a nonlinear error correcting problem is solved by collecting all the information from those partial observers and exploiting redundancy. A computationally efficient, on-line monitoring scheme is presented for attack detection. Based on the attack detection scheme, an algorithm for resilient state estimation is provided. The simulation results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm