Chongqing: Model for a new economic and social policy?

Based on:– Wang Yuguang, “Chongqing: Testing ground for new policies,” Caijing guojia zhoukan, February 2011.– Hu Shuli, Lu Yangzheng, Deng Hai, “New economic policies in Chongqing,” Zhongguo gaige – China Reform, November 2010.– Chen Lili, “Analysis of social housing model in Chongqing,” Hezuo jingji yu keji, 2011, no. 12, June 2011.– Zhou Min, Xiang Pengcheng, “Innovation and functioning of social housing model in Chongqing,” Hezuo jingji yu keji, 2011, no. 13, June 2011

Chongqing: Model for a new economic and social policy?

Based on:– Wang Yuguang, “Chongqing: Testing ground for new policies,” Caijing guojia zhoukan, February 2011.– Hu Shuli, Lu Yangzheng, Deng Hai, “New economic policies in Chongqing,” Zhongguo gaige – China Reform, November 2010.– Chen Lili, “Analysis of social housing model in Chongqing,” Hezuo jingji yu keji, 2011, no. 12, June 2011.– Zhou Min, Xiang Pengcheng, “Innovation and functioning of social housing model in Chongqing,” Hezuo jingji yu keji, 2011, no. 13, June 2011

Fast Trading and the Virtue of Entropy: Evidence from the Foreign Exchange Market

Focusing on the foreign exchange reaction to macroeconomic announcements, we show that fast trading is positively and significantly correlated with the entropy of the distribution of quoted prices in reaction to news: a larger share of fast trading increases the degree of diversity of quotes in the order book, for given liquidity, order book depth and size of order flows. Exploiting the WM Reuters’ reform of the fixing methodology in February 2015 as a natural experiment, we provide evidence that fast trading raises entropy, rather than reacting to it. While more entropy in quoted prices means noisier information and arguably complicates price discovery from an individual trader’s perspective, we show that, in the aggregate, more entropy actually brings traded prices closer to the random walk hypothesis, and improves indicators of market efficiency and quality of trade execution. We estimate that a 10 percent increase in entropy reduces the negative impact of macro news by over 60% for effective spreads, against over 40% for realized spreads and price impacts. Our findings suggest that the main mechanism by which fast trading may have desirable effects on market performance specifically hinges on enhanced heterogeneity in trading patterns, best captured by entropy

Understanding household savings in China: the role of the housing market and borrowing constraints

This paper examines the role of rising housing prices and borrowing constraints as determinants of China's high household saving rate, especially among young households. Using a life-cycle model of saving behavior in the presence of borrowing constraints, we show that the relationship between housing prices and saving exists only under certain conditions and for certain groups of households. Specifically, when the return on financial instruments is low (which is the case in China), the saving rate of young households may increase with housing prices. This relationship, moreover, is non-linear and depends on the level of wealth. Employing an empirical strategy motivated by the theoretical model, we analyze a dataset of over six thousand Chinese urban households spanning the years 1995, 2002 and 2007. We find evidence that higher housing prices do in fact increase the saving rates of young households. We also find evidence for the predicted non-linearity

Understanding household savings in China: the role of the housing market and borrowing constraints

This paper examines the role of rising housing prices and borrowing constraints as determinants of China's high household saving rate, especially among young households. Using a life-cycle model of saving behavior in the presence of borrowing constraints, we show that the relationship between housing prices and saving exists only under certain conditions and for certain groups of households. Specifically, when the return on financial instruments is low (which is the case in China), the saving rate of young households may increase with housing prices. This relationship, moreover, is non-linear and depends on the level of wealth. Employing an empirical strategy motivated by the theoretical model, we analyze a dataset of over six thousand Chinese urban households spanning the years 1995, 2002 and 2007. We find evidence that higher housing prices do in fact increase the saving rates of young households. We also find evidence for the predicted non-linearity

Mesoporosity changes from cambium to mature tension wood: a new step toward the understanding of maturation stress generation in trees

International audienceIn order to progress in the understanding of mechanical stress generation, the mesoporosity of the cell wall and its changes during maturation of poplar (Populus deltoides x P. nigra) tension wood (TW) and opposite wood (OW) were measured by nitrogen adsorption–desorption. Variations in the thickness of the gelatinous layer (G-layer) were also measured to clarify whether the mesoporosity change simultaneously with the deposition of the G-layer in TW. Results show that mesoporous structures of TW and OW were very similar in early development stages before the deposition of G-layers. With the formation of the S2 layer in OW and the G-layer in TW, the mesopore volume decreased steeply before lignification. However, in TW only, the decrease in mesopore volume occurred together with the pore shape change and a progressive increase in pore size. The different patterns observed in TW revealed that pores from G-layers appear with a different shape compared to those of the compound middle lamella, and their size increases duringthe maturation process until stabilising in mature wood. This observation strongly supports the hypothesis of the swelling of the G-layer matrix during maturation as the origin of maturation stress in poplar tension wood

Genome-Wide Analysis of LIM Gene Family in Populus trichocarpa, Arabidopsis thaliana, and Oryza sativa

In Eukaryotes, LIM proteins act as developmental regulators in basic cellular processes such as regulating the transcription or organizing the cytoskeleton. The LIM domain protein family in plants has mainly been studied in sunflower and tobacco plants, where several of its members exhibit a specific pattern of expression in pollen. In this paper, we finely characterized in poplar six transcripts encoding these proteins. In Populus trichocarpa genome, the 12 LIM gene models identified all appear to be duplicated genes. In addition, we describe several new LIM domain proteins deduced from Arabidopsis and rice genomes, raising the number of LIM gene models to six for both species. Plant LIM genes have a core structure of four introns with highly conserved coding regions. We also identified new LIM domain proteins in several other species, and a phylogenetic analysis of plant LIM proteins reveals that they have undergone one or several duplication events during the evolution. We gathered several LIM protein members within new monophyletic groups. We propose to classify the plant LIM proteins into four groups: αLIM1, βLIM1, γLIM2, and δLIM2, subdivided according to their specificity to a taxonomic class and/or to their tissue-specific expression. Our investigation of the structure of the LIM domain proteins revealed that they contain many conserved motifs potentially involved in their function

Laser calibration of the ATLAS Tile Calorimeter during LHC Run 2

This article reports the laser calibration of the hadronic Tile Calorimeter of the ATLAS experiment in the LHC Run 2 data campaign. The upgraded Laser II calibration system is described. The system was commissioned during the first LHC Long Shutdown, exhibiting a stability better than 0.8% for the laser light monitoring. The methods employed to derive the detector calibration factors with data from the laser calibration runs are also detailed. These allowed to correct for the response fluctuations of the 9852 photomultiplier tubes of the Tile Calorimeter with a total uncertainty of 0.5% plus a luminosity-dependent sub-dominant term. Finally, we report the regular monitoring and performance studies using laser events in both standalone runs and during proton collisions. These studies include channel timing and quality inspection, and photomultiplier linearity and response dependence on anode current

Involvement of Pinus taeda MYB1 and MYB8 in phenylpropanoid metabolism and secondary cell wall biogenesis: a comparative in planta analysis

The involvement of two R2R3-MYB genes from Pinus taeda L., PtMYB1 and PtMYB8, in phenylpropanoid metabolism and secondary cell wall biogenesis was investigated in planta. These pine MYBs were constitutively overexpressed (OE) in Picea glauca (Moench) Voss, used as a heterologous conifer expression system. Morphological, histological, chemical (lignin and soluble phenols), and transcriptional analyses, i.e. microarray and reverse transcription quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR) were used for extensive phenotyping of MYB-overexpressing spruce plantlets. Upon germination of somatic embryos, root growth was reduced in both transgenics. Enhanced lignin deposition was also a common feature but ectopic secondary cell wall deposition was more strongly associated with PtMYB8-OE. Microarray and RT-qPCR data showed that overexpression of each MYB led to an overlapping up-regulation of many genes encoding phenylpropanoid enzymes involved in lignin monomer synthesis, while misregulation of several cell wall-related genes and other MYB transcription factors was specifically associated with PtMYB8-OE. Together, the results suggest that MYB1 and MYB8 may be part of a conserved transcriptional network involved in secondary cell wall deposition in conifers