Public and private sector wages: co-movement and causality

This paper looks at public and private sector wages interactions since the 1960s in the euro area, euro area countries and a number of other OECD countries. The paper reports, first, a strong positive annual contemporaneous correlation of public and private sector wages over the business cycle; this finding is robust across methods and measures of wages and quite general across countries. Second, we show evidence of long-run relationships between public and private sector wages in all countries. Finally, causality analysis suggests that feedback effects between private and public wages occur in a direct manner and, importantly also via prices. While influences from the private sector appear on the whole to be stronger, there are direct and indirect feedback effects from public wage setting in a number of countries as well. We show how country-specific institutional features of labour and product markets contain helpful information to explain the heterogeneity across countries of our results on public/private wage leadership. JEL Classification: C32, J30, J51, J52, E62, E63, H50(partly) government wages, causality, co-movement, private sector wages

The cyclicality of consumption, wages and employment of the public sector in the euro area

This study examines the business cycle behaviour of public consumption and its main components; the public wage bill (including compensation per employee and public employment) and intermediate consumption in the euro area aggregate, euro area countries and a group of selected non-euro area OECD countries (Denmark, Sweden, the UK, Japan and the US). It looks across a large number of variables and methods, using annual data from 1960 to 2005. It finds robust evidence supporting that public consumption, wages and employment co-move with the business cycle in a pro-cyclical manner with 1-2 year lags, notably for the euro area aggregate and euro area countries. The findings reflect mainly the correlation between cyclical developments (automatic stabilizers), but also point to the important role of pro-cyclical discretionary fiscal policies. JEL Classification: E62, E63, H50filtering, Public consumption, public employment, public wages, stylized facts, thick modelling

Public and private sector wages:comovement and casuality

This paper looks at public and private sector wages interactions since the 1960s in the euro area, euro area countries and a number of other OECD countries. It focuses on co-movements and causal relationships. To obtain the most robust results possible, we apply a number of alternative empirical methodologies, and perform the analysis for two data samples and different price deflators. The paper reports, first, a strong positive annual contemporaneous correlation of public and private sector wages over the business cycle; this finding is robust across methods and measures of wages and quite general across countries. Second, we show evidence of long-run relationships between public and private sector wages in all countries. Finally, causality analysis suggests that feedback effects between private and public wages occur in a direct manner and, importantly also via prices. While influences from the private sector appear on the whole to be stronger, there are direct and indirect feedback effects from public wage setting in a number of countries as well. We show how country-specific institutional features of labour and product markets contain helpful information to explain the heterogeneity across countries of our results on public/private wage leadership.government wages; private sector wages; causality; co-movement.

Public wages in the euro area - towards securing stability and competitiveness

This paper examines the role of government wages in ensuring macroeconomic stability and competitiveness in the euro area. Recent empirical evidence suggests that government wage expenditure is subject to a pro-cyclical bias in most euro area countries and at the euro area aggregate level. Moreover, the evidence points to a strong positive correlation and co-movement between public and private wages in the short to medium term, both directly and indirectly via the price level, in most euro area countries. In a number of countries this interrelation between public and private wages coincided with strong public wage growth and competitiveness losses. These findings underpin the need for prudent public wage policies supported by strong domestic fiscal frameworks and appropriate wage-setting institutions in order to enhance economic stability and competitiveness in Economic and Monetary Union. JEL Classification: E22, E50competitiveness, fiscal cyclicality, government wage expenditure

Academic Use of Rapid Prototyping in Digitally Controlled Power Factor Correctors

The growing use of power converters connected to the grid motivates their study in power electronics courses and the prototype development in the degree final project (DFP). However, the practical realization of using state-of-the-art components and conversion techniques is complex due to the numerous multidisciplinary aspects that students must consider in its design and development and the workload associated with the DFP. An example of this is that, unlike a conventional power factor correction (PFC) design, the individual dedication of students to complete the design and validation of modern bridgeless PFC stages exceeds the number of credits of the DFP. The reason for this is that it includes system modeling, becoming familiar with the devices used, discrete selection, circuit design, control development, and programming, to build the converter and verify the operation of the complete system. To reinforce the individual skills needed for the DFP and reduce this time, a novel strategy is proposed. It allows the student to focus their efforts on integrating the individual skills achieved in the degree at the appropriate competence level during the modeling and construction of the power converter while carrying out part of the tasks out of the lab, if necessary, as was the case during the pandemic restrictions. For this, the rapid prototyping technique is introduced to speed up the overall design and speed up the tuning of digital controllers. This manuscript presents a teaching experience in which students build digitally controlled power converters using Texas Instruments microcontroller boards and PLECS®. The example of a bridgeless totem-pole power factor corrector is shown. Although it began to develop and was motivated due to the restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic, the experience has been verified and is maintained over time, successfully consolidating

The use of multiplexed simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers for analysis of genetic diversity in African rice genotypes

Rice is an emerging food and cash crop in Eastern Africa. Thousands of germplasm accessions have been introduced from major rice breeding centers, such as the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), and Africa Rice but the genetic variability among the introduced rice germplasm is unknown. Knowledge on genetic diversity would be useful in designing measures for comprehensive breeding and conservation. To address this knowledge gap, 10 highly polymorphic rice simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers were used to characterize 99 rice genotypes to determine their diversity and place them in their different population groups. The SSR markers were multiplexed in 3 panels to increase their throughput. An average of 15.9 alleles was detected, ranging from 6 alleles detected by marker RM7 to 30 by marker RM333. The UPGMA dendogram based on Nei’s genetic distance cluster analysis, revealed 5 genetic groups among the genotypes tested. Analysis of molecular variance indicated that 97% of the diversity observed was explained by differences in the genotypes themselves, and only 3% was due to the sources from which the genotypes were obtained. This study sets the stage for further diversity analysis of all the available germplasm lines using SSR markers to ensure effective utilization and conservation of the germplasm.Keywords: Genetic diversity, simple sequences repeat (SSR) markers, multiplexing, rice genotypes, structure. Abbreviation: IRRI, International Rice Research Institute; SSR, simple sequence repeat; NaCRRI, national crops resources research institute; RAPD, random amplified polymorphic DNA; AFLP, amplified fragment length polymorphisms; RFLP, restriction fragment length polymorphisms; SNP, single nucleotide polymorphisms; BAC, bacterial artificial chromosome; PAC, P1-derived artificial chromosome; PCR, polymerase chain reaction; Ho, heterozygosity; He, heterozygosity

Institutional determinants of public-private sector linkages

We estimate the probability of public sector leadership – defined as Granger causality from public to private sector wages – in a pool of 18 OECD countries as a function of countries’ institutional features. We find that public-private sector causality results are quite heterogeneous across countries. So, we investigate whether this is related to differences in labor and product market institutions, and notably wage-setting institutions, across countries. Government involvement in collective bargaining, bargaining centralization and collective bargaining systems with predominant regional levels’ systems are positively correlated with the probability of finding public wage leadership. Among the factors that reduce its probability we can underline the impact of globalization and a level of collective bargaining closer to the company one

Occurrence of rice yellow mottle virus resistance breaking isolates in lowland catchment zones of Uganda

Rice (Oryza spp; 2n=24.) production in Uganda and Africa in general, is seriously threatened by the Rice yellow mottle virus disease (RYMVD), a disease caused by Rice yellow mottle virus (RYMV) within the genus Sobemovirus; family Sobemoviridae. This study investigated the existence and distribution of resistance-breaking RYMV pathotype in the three major lowland rice catchment areas in Uganda. Four known rice accessions resistant to Rice yellow mottle virus (RYMV) namely; Gigante, Tog5672, Tog5674 and Tog5681, carrying resistant allele’s rymv1-2, rymv1-4 & RYMV3, rymv1-5 and rymv1-3, respectively, were tested for their response to different RYMV isolates. The isolates were collected from three major lowland rice catchment areas of Doho, Kibimba, and Olweny in Uganda. Out of 100 leaf samples collected from the field and assayed for RYMV and confirmed to be positive using RT-PCR, 83 isolates induced symptoms on IR64- the RYMV susceptible line. Seventy-seven (92.8%) isolates were able to overcome resistance in at least one of the four differential rice accessions, as confirmed by the presence of RYMV symptoms; while 6 (7.2%) isolates were asymptomatic. Variation in time (days) for symptom development post-inoculation (dpi) and AUDPC were observed. Symptoms appeared within 5-7 days on IR64; while it took on average 11, 18, 36, and 18 days to appear on Gigante, Tog5672, Tog5674 and Tog5681, respectively. The highest AUDPC was observed on IR64 (254.7); while the lowest was observed on Tog5681 (74.1). Two major patho-groups were observed; those that broke down resistance in Gigante only (25.3%) and Gigante & Tog5672 (33.7%). Five isolates from Doho (Budaka & Bugiri districts) and Kibimba (Butaleja district) catchment areas broke down RYMV resistance in three accessions i.e. (Tog5681, Gigante & Tog5672) and (Tog5674, Gigante & Tog5672), respectively. Resistance breaking isolates were confirmed in all  the three sampled catchment zones, however, Doho and Kibimba had some unique isolates that broke down resistance in accessions carrying resistance allele rymv 1-3 and rymv1-5 in addition to rymv1-2. Results from this study showed that RYMV isolates in Uganda can break down resistance conferred by the rymv1-2 resistance gene allele. However, accessions Tog5681 and Tog5674 seem to hold stable RYMV resistance and, thus are recommended for RYMV breeding

Inferior lateral genicular artery injury during anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction surgery

We report a case of inferior lateral genicular artery (ILG) injury during anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction surgery with lateral partial meniscectomy. This is a rare arthroscopy complication. A review of the literature has been made with the aim to define the anatomy of ILG across the lateral articular line and the risk of lesion during knee arthroscopy. We propose embolization as a good treatment option for this type of injurie

Magnitude of genotype x environment interaction for bacterial leaf blight resistance in rice growing areas of Uganda

Bacterial leaf blight (BLB) of rice ( Oryzae sativa L.), caused by Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae, is a major constraint in most lowland rice producing areas of Uganda. The disease is widely distributed in all irrigated and rainfed lowland rice ecosytems in the country. The pathogen (Xoo) is highly variable and its control is rather difficult. Development and deployment of host resistance is the only effective means of BLB management. The objective of this study was to determine the magnitude of genotype by environment (G x E) interaction for resistance to bacterial leaf blight in rice in Uganda. A study comprised of two sets of germplasms, a total of 30 rice genotypes comprising of 13 lines with varying levels of BLB resistance, and 17 F4 lines that had been previous generated through crossing 7 parental lines, and then advanced in bulk from F1, was conducted in Namulonge-Wakiso, Olweny-Lira and Kibimba- Bugiri districts in Uganda. The study also included 7 parental lines and 6 popular varieties used in most farmers\u2019 fields. Variety IR 24 had been used as a universal check against BLB in Asian rice populations. Results revealed differential reactions on a set of near isogenic lines in the background of IR24, and some national and regional cultivars. IRBB1 (Xa1), IRBB2 (Xa2) and IRBB14 (Xa14) showed moderate susceptibility to susceptibility towards field pathogen populations in the three locations. Whereas genotype IRBB4 with gene Xa4 differentiated pathotypes of Kibimba and Lira from that of Namulonge, IRBB10 (Xa10) and IRBB11 (Xa11) differentiated pathotypes of Lira from the rest. Genotypes that had been pyramided with BLB genes of resistance, showed similar reactions to the three field populations. Generally, the near isogenic lines IRBB1, IRBB2, IRBB11 and IRBB14, had the highest leaf area damaged by disease attack. The highest was shown by IRBB11 with the Kibimba pathotypes for which disease attack was 43%. Low attack was observed on pyramided genotypes in all locations and two with single gene, i.e. IRBB8 and IRBB21, respectively. Interestingly, IR24 was as resistant as any of the pyramided combinations. Results also revealed different reactions of the tested genotypes in the three locations. The analysis of variance by AMMI partitioned the main effects of treatments into genotype, environment, and genotype x environment (G x E) interactions. Results also revealed that, the mean sum of squares due to treatments, genotypes, environments and genotype x environment interaction were significant, and contributed 48.2, 15.3, 19.3 and 13.3%, respectively, PCA1 accounted for 73.02% of the total G x E sum of squares.La br\ufblure foliaire bact\ue9rienne (BLB) est caus\ue9e chez le riz ( Oryzae sativa L.) par Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae qui est un probl\ue8me majeur dans la plupart des basfonds ou on produit le riz en Ouganda. La maladie est largement r\ue9pandue dans tous les \ue9cosyst\ue8mes ou le riz est produit, soit par irrigation ou par les pluies. L\u2019agent pathog\ue8ne (Xoo) pr\ue9sente une tr\ue8s grande diversification, et tr\ue8s difficile a Controller. Le d\ue9veloppement et d\ue9ploiement d\u2019h\uf4tes r\ue9sistants est le seul moyen efficace pour le control du BLB. La pr\ue9sente \ue9tude visait \ue0 d\ue9terminer l\u2019effet de l\u2019interaction g\ue9notype-environnement (GxE) sur la r\ue9sistance \ue0 la bact\ue9rie de brulure foliaire chez le riz en Ouganda. Une exp\ue9rimentation a \ue9t\ue9 conduite sur 30 g\ue9notypes de riz, dont 13 lign\ue9es avec des niveaux de r\ue9sistance vari\ue9s \ue0 BLB et 17 lign\ue9es F4 g\ue9n\ue9r\ue9es en croissant 7 lign\ue9es parentales dont les F1 ont \ue9t\ue9 avances a Namulonge-Wakiso, Olweny-Lira et Kibimba- Bugiri en Ouganda. L\u2019\ue9tude a aussi pris en compte 7 lign\ue9es parentales et 6 vari\ue9t\ue9s populaires utilis\ue9es dans la plupart des champs. La vari\ue9t\ue9 IR 24 a \ue9t\ue9 utilis\ue9e comme r\ue9f\ue9rence universelle r\ue9sistante au BLB dans les populations de riz asiatiques. Les r\ue9sultats ont r\ue9v\ue9l\ue9 des r\ue9actions diverses sur une s\ue9rie de lign\ue9es isog\ue9niques par rapport \ue0 IR24, et quelques accessions nationales et r\ue9gionales. IRBB1 (Xa1), IRBB2 (Xa2) et IRBB14 (Xa14) se sont montre peu ou tr\ue8s susceptibles au BLB dans les trois localit\ue9s. Tandis que le g\ue9notype IRBB4 qui porte le g\ue8ne Xa4 a r\ue9agi de fa\ue7on diff\ue9rente vis \ue0 vis des pathotypes de Kibimba et de Lira compare \ue0 ceux de Namulonge, IRBB10 (Xa10) et IRBB11 (Xa11) ont diff\ue9renci\ue9 les pathotypes de Lira par rapport au reste. Les g\ue9notypes portant des cumuls de g\ue8nes de r\ue9sistance ont exhibes des r\ue9actions identiques dans toutes les trois populations. G\ue9n\ue9ralement, les lign\ue9es presque isog\ue9niques IRBB1, IRBB2, IRBB11 et IRBB14, ont pr\ue9sent\ue9 les pourcentages les plus \ue9lev\ue9s de dommages foliaires. Les dommages les plus importants \ue9taient observ\ue9s chez IRBB11 en contact avec les pathotypes de Kibimba, pour lesquels on a not\ue9 43% d\u2019attaque foliaire. Dans toutes les localit\ue9s, les d\ue9g\ue2ts \ue9taient mod\ue9r\ue9s sur les g\ue9notypes \ue0 plusieurs g\ue8nes de r\ue9sistance et deux avec un seul g\ue8ne. Par exemple, IRBB8 et IRBB21, respectivement. Fort heureusement, IR24 \ue9tait autant r\ue9sistant que tous les autres g\ue8nes cumul\ue9s. Il a \ue9t\ue9 aussi observe que les r\ue9actions sur les g\ue9notypes testes varient d\u2019une location a une autre. L\u2019analyse de variance par AMMI a partitionne les effets des traitements en effet dus aux g\ue9notypes, a l\u2019environnement et a leur interaction. Aussi, il a \ue9t\ue9 observe que les sommes des carr\ue9s moyens due au traitements, g\ue9notypes, environnement et interaction g\ue9notype-environnement, \ue9taient significatives et contribuent respectivement 48.2, 15.3, 19.3 et 13.3% a la variation totale. L\u2019axe PCA1 a expliqu\ue9 73.02% de la variation totale due \ue0 l\u2019interaction G x E