23,719 research outputs found
Does historical documentation support the proposed traditional use of Chelidonium majus L. by the European Medicines Agency?
Intertemporal Substitution in Macroeconomics
Modern neoclassical theories of the business cycle posit that aggregate fluctuations in consumption and employment are the consequence of dynamic optimizing behavior by economic agents who face no quantity constraint. In this paper, we estimate an explicit model :f this type. In particular, we assume that the observed fluctuations correspond to the decisions of an optimizing representative individual. This individual has a stable utility function which is additively separable over time but not necessarily additively separable in consumption and leisure. We estimate three first order conditions which represent three margins on which the individual is optimizing. He can trade off present consumption for future consumption, present leisure for future leisure and present consumption for present leisure. Our results show that the aggregate U.S. data are extremely reluctant to be characterized by a model of this type. Not only are the overidentifying restrictions statistically rejected but, in addition, the estimated utility function is often not concave. Even when it is concave the estimates imply that either consumption or leisure is an inferior good.
FY2016 National Defense Authorization Act: Selected Military Personnel Issues
[Excerpt] Military personnel issues typically generate significant interest from many Members of Congress and their staffs. Ongoing operations in Afghanistan and Iraq, along with the regular use of the reserve component personnel for operational missions, further heighten interest in a wide range of military personnel policies and issues.
The Congressional Research Service (CRS) has selected a number of the military personnel issues considered in deliberations on H.R. 1735 as passed by the House and by the Senate and the final bill, S. 1356, as enacted (P.L. 114-92). This report provides a brief synopsis of sections in each bill that pertain to selected personnel policy. These include major military retirement reforms, end strengths, compensation, health care, and sexual assault, as well as less prominent issues that nonetheless generate significant public interest
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Repeatable approaches to work with scientific uncertainty and advance climate change adaptation in US national parks
Responsiveness of bovine cumulus-oocyte-complexes (COC) to porcine and recombinant human FSH, and the effect of COC quality on gonadotropin receptor and Cx43 marker gene mRNAs during maturation in vitro
Substantially less development to the blastocyst stage occurs in vitro than in vivo and this may be due to deficiencies in oocyte competence. Although a large proportion of bovine oocytes undergo spontaneous nuclear maturation, less is known about requirements for proper cytoplasmic maturation. Commonly, supraphysiological concentrations of FSH and LH are added to maturation media to improve cumulus expansion, fertilization and embryonic development. Therefore, various concentrations of porcine FSH (pFSH) and recombinant human FSH (rhFSH) were investigated for their effect on bovine cumulus expansion in vitro. Expression of FSHr, LHr and Cx43 mRNAs was determined in cumulus-oocyte complexes to determine whether they would be useful markers of oocyte competence. In serum-free media, only 1000 ng/ml pFSH induced marked cumulus expansion, but the effect of 100 ng/ml pFSH was amplified in the presence of 10% serum. In contrast, cumulus expansion occurred with 1 ng/ml rhFSH in the absence of serum. FSHr mRNA was highest at 0–6 h of maturation, then abundance decreased. Similarly, Cx43 mRNA expression was highest from 0–6 h but decreased by 24 h of maturation. However, the relative abundance of LHr mRNA did not change from 6–24 h of maturation. Decreased levels of FSHr, LHr and Cx43 mRNAs were detected in COCs of poorer quality. In conclusion, expansion of bovine cumulus occurred at low doses of rhFSH in serum-free media. In summary, FSHr, LHr and Cx43 mRNA abundance reflects COC quality and FSHr and Cx43 mRNA expression changes during in vitro maturation; these genes may be useful markers of oocyte developmental competence
Origin of the fast magnetization tunneling in the single-molecule magnet [Ni(hmp)(tBuEtOH)Cl]4
We present high-frequency angle-dependent EPR data for crystals of
[NixZn1-x(hmp)(t-BuEtOH)Cl]4 (x = 1 and 0.02). The x = 1 complex behaves as a
single-molecule magnet at low temperatures, displaying hysteresis and
exceptionally fast magnetization tunneling. We show that this behavior is
related to a 4th-order transverse crystal-field interaction, which produces a
significant tunnel-splitting (~10 MHz) of the ground state of this S = 4
system. The magnitude of the 4th-order anisotropy, and the dominant axial term
(D), can be related to the single-ion interactions (Di and Ei) at the
individual NiII sites, as determined for the x = 0.02 crystals.Comment: 11 pages including 2 figure
Use of aerial thermography in Canadian energy conservation programs
Recent developments in the use of aerial thermography in energy conservation programs within Canada were summarized. Following a brief review of studies conducted during the last three years, methodologies of data acquisition, processing, analysis and interpretation was discussed. Examples of results from an industrial oriented project were presented and recommendations for future basic work were outlined
The Effects of Dynamic Changes in Bank Competition on the Supply of Small Business Credit
We study the effects of structural changes in banking markets on the supply of credit to small businesses. Specifically, we examine whether bank mergers and acquisitions (M&As) and entry have "external" effects on small business loans by other banks in the same local markets. The results suggest modest positive external effects from these dynamic changes in competition, except that large banks may reduce small business lending in reaction to entry. We confirm bank size and age as important determinants of this lending, and show that the measured age effect does not appear to be driven by
local market M&A activity
Slow crossover in YbXCu4 intermediate valence compounds
We compare the results of measurements of the magnetic susceptibility Chi(T),
the linear coefficient of specific heat Gamma(T)=C(T)/T and 4f occupation
number nf(T) for the intermediate valence compounds YbXCu4 (X = Ag, Cd, In, Mg,
Tl, Zn) to the predictions of the Anderson impurity model, calculated in the
non-crossing approximation (NCA). The crossover from the low temperature Fermi
liquid state to the high temperature local moment state is substantially slower
in the compounds than predicted by the NCA; this corresponds to the
''protracted screening'' recently predicted for the Anderson Lattice. We
present results for the dynamic susceptibility, measured through neutron
scattering experiments, to show that the deviations between theory and
experiment are not due to crystal field effects, and we present
x-ray-absorption fine-structure (XAFS) results that show the local crystal
structure around the X atoms is well ordered, so that the deviations probably
do not arise from Kondo Disorder. The deviations may correlate with the
background conduction electron density, as predicted for protracted screening.Comment: Submitted to Physical Review B on June 7, 2000, accepted for
publication November 2, 2000. Changes to the original manuscript include: 1)
a discussion of the relation of the slow crossover to the conduction electron
density; 2) a discussion of the relation of the reported results to earlier
photoemission results; and, 3) minor editorial change
Two energy scales and slow crossover in YbAl3
Experimental results for the susceptibility, specific heat, 4f occupation
number, Hall effect and magnetoresistance for single crystals of YbAl
show that, in addition to the Kondo energy scale 670K,
there is a low temperature scale K for the onset of coherence.
Furthermore the crossover from the low temperature Fermi liquid regime to the
high temperature local moment regime is slower than predicted by the Anderson
impurity model. These effects may reflect the behavior of the Anderson Lattice
in the limit of low conduction electron density.Comment: Ten pages, including three figure
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