How to manage speculative shocks: intra-European vs. International monetary coordination

The literature on currency crisis has generally not answered to the following question: which economic policies may reduce the contagion effects of a speculative shock? We use a dynamic Mundell-Fleming model extended to four countries and compute three time-consistent equilibria: a Nash equilibrium, and Nash-bargaining equilibria, first between the central banks of the G3 (a target zone equilibrium) and, second between European governments and the ECB. The best equilibrium for the Fed, European and Japanese policymakers is intra-European coordination. It induces a very expansionary fiscal policy in the USA whose government hence rejects it. Extensions to the case of a Stability Pact in European countries do not alter our results. Introducing a Fed less conservative than the ECB or the BoJ provokes a change in US preferences: both authorities give priority to the monetary equilibrium and the US government is no longer isolationist.

Improved predictions of the standard model and the detection of new physics in neutron beta decay

We improve the current predictions of the standard model for neutron beta decay observables and compare them with the currently available ones. Next we study their implications in the possible detection of new physics. We discuss where the limitations are and where further efforts should be directed.Comment: 8 pages, 3 figures, to appear in Physics Letters

Near Real-Time Monitoring of Formaldehyde in a Low-Energy School Building

International audienceThe emergence of new super-insulated buildings to reduce energy consumption places the quality of indoor air at the center of the debate. Among the indoor air pollutants, aldehydes are often present, and formaldehyde is of major interest regarding its multiple sources and its health impact. Therefore, French regulations expect to reduce formaldehyde concentrations below 10 μg m −3 in public buildings by 2023. Formaldehyde and other aldehydes were measured for two weeks during an intensive field campaign conducted in a school recently built and equipped with programmable dual-flow ventilation. Aldehydes were monitored with the ISO 16000-3 reference method based on sampling with 2,4-dinitrophenylhydrazine (DNPH) tubes while formaldehyde concentration was continuously measured by using a sensitive near real-time formaldehyde microanalyzer with a detection limit of 1 μg m −3. Formaldehyde was the major aldehyde. Its concentrations varied in the range of 2-25 μg m −3 and decreased by half when mechanical ventilation was ON, while the other ones were always below 5 μg m −3. In addition, an excellent agreement was observed between the different analytical techniques deployed to quantify formaldehyde levels. The microanalyzer was able to measure fast variations of formaldehyde concentration in the studied room, according to the building's ventilation periods

Late Cretaceous dinosaur eggshells from the Tremp Basin, Southern Pyrenees.

Late Cretaceous dinosaur eggshell assemblages from six localities of the Tremp basin (Southern Pyrenecs. Lleida, Spain) are studied and compared wtth those of Southern France, to correlate their temporal succession. Fontllonga 6 reveals the most diverse eggshell assemblage known so far, with seven oospecies, among which one new structural type (Pseudogeckoolithus nodosus new genus and species). a new Rattle-type eggshell (Ageroolithus)(mtllongensis new genus and species) and a new Prismatoolithidae are described: four other tax a are shared wit.h Southern. France. The correlation of both Spanish and French eggshell successions allows us to recognize three mam penods characterised by different eggshell assemblages: a lower assemblage with Megaloolithus petralta, M. aureliensis, Prismatoolithus tenuis and P. matellensis from the French Lower Rognacian and the Spanish sites Fontllonga 6 and Moro: a middle and species). a new Rattle-type eggshell (Ageroolithus)(millongensis new genus and species) and a new Prismatoolithidae are described: four other tax a are shared with Southern France. The correlation of both Spanish and French eggshell successions allows us to recognize three mam periods characterised by different eggshell assemblages: a lower assemblage with Megaloolithus petrata: M. aureliensis, one with M. siruguei from the Middle Rognacian and Biscarri: and a late one from the Late Rognacian with M. mammilare (from Abella Bastus) and M. pseudomantlare (from Suterranya). Some contractions appear when comparing results with paleomagnetism and charophyte correlations but the eggshell correlations are consistent whit other stratgraphic studies

Stratigraphy of the Haut Var Paleogene continental series (Northeastern Provence, France): New insight on the age of the 'Sables bleutés du Haut Var' Formation

The age of the Paleogene deposits of the Haut Var (Provence, France) has been the subject of debate. Particularly, the ''Calcaire à Bithynies'' and the ''Sables bleutés'' units were ascribed either to the early Eocene or to the Oligocene. A stratigraphical clarification is required in order to precise the paleogeographical relationships of the Haut Var Paleogene sedimentary series with coeval deposits in the neighbouring southern Provence and Subalpine regions and other European domains. The study area is characterized by tectonically separated synclines and grabens filled in by continental Paleogene deposits. Detailed mapping and lithostratigraphical logging, sedimentological and microfacies analysis have been undertaken in order to provide a reliable stratigraphical framework. Biostratigraphical subdivisions were established based on five different fossil groups: mammals, charophytes, gastropods, ostracodes, and foraminifers. Accordingly, five formations are distinguished and dated: ''Calcaire a` Microcodium'' and ''Brèche à Microcodium'' (Danian); ''Marnes à oeufs d'oiseaux'' (Selandian(?)-earliest Ypresian); 'Sables bleutés du Haut Var' (early-late(?) Ypresian); and ''Bourdas conglomerates'' (Rupelian). Particular emphasis is given to the study of the controversial 'Sables bleute´ s du Haut Var' Formation. As a result, correlations have been established between the different syncline and graben areas where Paleocene-Eocene and Oligocene deposits occur. Terrestrial deposits (carbonate paleosols and piedmont alluvial fans) took place during Paleocene times, while fluvial (cross-bedded sands) and lacustrine carbonate deposits developed in a foreland compressional intracontinental basin surrounded by emerged areas and tectonic highs during the early Ypresian. Paleoenvironmental and paleogeo- graphical analysis strengthen the view that a relative isolation characterized the Haut Var area during the early Eocene, probably enhancing episodes of brackish water or evaporitic sedimentation and gastropod endemism. During the late Eocene Pyrenean-Provence tectonic phase, the E-W trending Haut Var overthrusts have been emplaced posteriorly to the deposition of the 'Sables bleute´ s du Haut Var' Fm. Finally, coarse alluvial fan and local lacustrine carbonate sedimentation occurred during the Oligocene in narrow N-S trending subsident extensional grabens associated with the N-S trending Barjols Triassic uplift

Plastid proteome prediction for diatoms and other algae with secondary plastids of the red lineage

The plastids of ecologically and economically important algae from phyla such as stramenopiles, dinoflagellates and cryptophytes were acquired via a secondary endosymbiosis and are surrounded by three or four membranes. Nuclear-encoded plastid-localized proteins contain N-terminal bipartite targeting peptides with the conserved amino acid sequence motif ‘ASAFAP’. Here we identify the plastid proteomes of two diatoms, Thalassiosira pseudonana and Phaeodactylum tricornutum, using a customized prediction tool (ASAFind) that identifies nuclear-encoded plastid proteins in algae with secondary plastids of the red lineage based on the output of SignalP and the identification of conserved ‘ASAFAP’ motifs and transit peptides. We tested ASAFind against a large reference dataset of diatom proteins with experimentally confirmed subcellular localization and found that the tool accurately identified plastid-localized proteins with both high sensitivity and high specificity. To identify nucleus-encoded plastid proteins of T. pseudonana and P. tricornutum we generated optimized sets of gene models for both whole genomes, to increase the percentage of full-length proteins compared with previous assembly model sets. ASAFind applied to these optimized sets revealed that about 8% of the proteins encoded in their nuclear genomes were predicted to be plastid localized and therefore represent the putative plastid proteomes of these algae

Mitochondrial glycolysis in a major lineage of eukaryotes

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is freely available from OUP via the DOI in this recordThe establishment of the mitochondrion is seen as a transformational step in the origin of eukaryotes. With the mitochondrion came bioenergetic freedom to explore novel evolutionary space leading to the eukaryotic radiation known today. The tight integration of the bacterial endosymbiont with its archaeal host was accompanied by a massive endosymbiotic gene transfer resulting in a small mitochondrial genome which is just a ghost of the original incoming bacterial genome. This endosymbiotic gene transfer resulted in the loss of many genes, both from the bacterial symbiont as well the archaeal host. Loss of genes encoding redundant functions resulted in a replacement of the bulk of the host's metabolism for those originating from the endosymbiont. Glycolysis is one such metabolic pathway in which the original archaeal enzymes have been replaced by the bacterial enzymes from the endosymbiont. Glycolysis is a major catabolic pathway that provides cellular energy from the breakdown of glucose. The glycolytic pathway of eukaryotes appears to be bacterial in origin, and in well-studied model eukaryotes it takes place in the cytosol. In contrast, here we demonstrate that the latter stages of glycolysis take place in the mitochondria of stramenopiles, a diverse and ecologically important lineage of eukaryotes. Although our work is based on a limited sample of stramenopiles, it leaves open the possibility that the mitochondrial targeting of glycolytic enzymes in stramenopiles might represent the ancestral state for eukaryotes.TAW is supported by a Royal Society University Research Fellowship and NERC grant NE/P00251X/1. Work in the lab of MvdG was supported by Wellcome Trust grant 078566/A/05/Z. PGK wishes to acknowledge support by the German Research Foundation (DFG, grant KR 1661/6-1) and the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation GBMF 4966 (grant DiaEdit)

Is the Unitarity of the quark-mixing-CKM-matrix violated in neutron β\beta-decay?

We report on a new measurement of neutron $\beta$-decay asymmetry. From the result \linebreak $A_0$ = -0.1189(7), we derive the ratio of the axial vector to the vector coupling constant $\lambda$ = ${\it g_A/g_V}$ = -1.2739(19). When included in the world average for the neutron lifetime $\tau$ = 885.7(7)s, this gives the first element of the Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa (CKM) matrix $V_{ud}$. With this value and the Particle Data Group values for $V_{us}$ and $V_{ub}$, we find a deviation from the unitarity condition for the first row of the CKM matrix of $\Delta$ = 0.0083(28), which is 3.0 times the stated error

Sharpening Low-Energy, Standard-Model Tests via Correlation Coefficients in Neutron Beta-Decay

The correlation coefficients a, A, and B in neutron beta-decay are proportional to the ratio of the axial-vector to vector weak coupling constants, g_A/g_V, to leading recoil order. With the advent of the next generation of neutron decay experiments, the recoil-order corrections to these expressions become experimentally accessible, admitting a plurality of Standard Model (SM) tests. The measurement of both a and A, e.g., allows one to test the conserved-vector-current (CVC) hypothesis and to search for second-class currents (SCC) independently. The anticipated precision of these measurements suggests that the bounds on CVC violation and SCC from studies of nuclear beta-decay can be qualitatively bettered. Departures from SM expectations can be interpreted as evidence for non-V-A currents.Comment: 4 pages, REVTeX, intro. broadened, typos fixed, to appear in PR