Share prices, house prices and monetary policy

Recent developments in stock and house prices revived the debate on the role of asset prices in the conduct of monetary policy. The article first explores the links between asset price fluctuations, macroeconomic developments and monetary policy, highlighting the possibility of asset price booms and bursts in an environment of stable consumer prices and the challenges for monetary policy. The problem of identification of “bubbles” is then illustrated by an assessment of recent developments in stock prices in the United States and the euro area and in house prices in the euro area, with special attention for the fast-increasing house prices in some countries and for the Belgian situation. Finally, the article briefly explains how asset prices are taken into account in the monetary policy strategy of the Eurosystem.monetary policy, transmission process, stock prices, residential property prices, Eurosystem

Repression of Floral Meristem Fate Is Crucial in Shaping Tomato Inflorescence

Tomato is an important crop and hence there is a great interest in understanding the genetic basis of its flowering. Several genes have been identified by mutations and we constructed a set of novel double mutants to understand how these genes interact to shape the inflorescence. It was previously suggested that the branching of the tomato inflorescence depends on the gradual transition from inflorescence meristem (IM) to flower meristem (FM): the extension of this time window allows IM to branch, as seen in the compound inflorescence (s) and falsiflora (fa) mutants that are impaired in FM maturation. We report here that JOINTLESS (J), which encodes a MADS-box protein of the same clade than SHORT VEGETATIVE PHASE (SVP) and AGAMOUS LIKE 24 (AGL24) in Arabidopsis, interferes with this timing and delays FM maturation, therefore promoting IM fate. This was inferred from the fact that j mutation suppresses the high branching inflorescence phenotype of s and fa mutants and was further supported by the expression pattern of J, which is expressed more strongly in IM than in FM. Most interestingly, FA - the orthologue of the Arabidopsis LEAFY (LFY) gene - shows the complementary expression pattern and is more active in FM than in IM. Loss of J function causes premature termination of flower formation in the inflorescence and its reversion to a vegetative program. This phenotype is enhanced in the absence of systemic florigenic protein, encoded by the SINGLE FLOWER TRUSS (SFT) gene, the tomato orthologue of FLOWERING LOCUS T (FT). These results suggest that the formation of an inflorescence in tomato requires the interaction of J and a target of SFT in the meristem, for repressing FA activity and FM fate in the IM

Critically evaluating collaborative research: why is it difficult to extend truth tests to reality tests?

We argue that critical evaluation achieves the reflexivity needed to facilitate collaboration by proposing boundary-negotiating artefacts to configure a joint action domain. Those objects become mediators for innovation by triggering controversies, conceived preventatively via an organized extension of what Boltanski calls ‘truth tests’ to ‘reality tests’ so that they dynamize ongoing affairs. However, critical evaluation must also anticipate actors’ reappropriation of boundary-negotiating artefacts in the effort to protect their rights, stakes or room for manoeuvre. Three scenarios commonly arise: avoidance or utopian projecting, enactment of inverted reality tests, and disavowal through role exchange. The article develops these propositions through the reconstruction of a modified theory-based evaluation of a collaborative research programme. The programme set out to explore how evidence from health research could be used rapidly and effectively in the context of practical problems and organizational challenges, so an internal evaluation was set up to facilitate learning during the process. What ensued, however, was a loss of trust between partners, resolved only by repositioning the evaluation as a reflective academic study, reducing its reflexive capacity to intervene on the level of activity and organizational integration. We conclude that doing successful critical evaluation and, more generally, achieving political pertinence for social scientific discourses depends on creating the conditions in which actors are able to take the risks and share the costs associated with the enhanced level of reflexivity necessary to engage in collective action as well as knowledge production

Mutagenesis of Plants Overexpressing CONSTANS Demonstrates Novel Interactions among Arabidopsis Flowering-Time Genes

CONSTANS (CO) promotes flowering of Arabidopsis in response to long photoperiods. Transgenic plants carrying CO fused with the cauliflower mosaic virus 35S promoter (35S::CO) flowered earlier than did the wild type and were almost completely insensitive to length of day. Genes required for CO to promote flowering were identified by screening for mutations that suppress the effect of 35S::CO. Four mutations were identified that partially suppressed the early-flowering phenotype caused by 35S::CO. One of these mutations, suppressor of overexpression of CO 1 (soc1), defines a new locus, demonstrating that the mutagenesis approach is effective in identifying novel flowering-time mutations. The other three suppressor mutations are allelic with previously described mutations that cause late flowering. Two of them are alleles of ft, indicating that FT is required for CO to promote early flowering and most likely acts after CO in the hierarchy of flowering-time genes. The fourth suppressor mutation is an allele of fwa, and fwa soc1 35S::CO plants flowered at approximately the same time as co mutants, suggesting that a combination of fwa and soc1 abolishes the promotion of flowering by CO. Besides delaying flowering, fwa acted synergistically with 35S::CO to repress floral development after bolting. The latter phenotype was not shown by any of the progenitors and was most probably caused by a reduction in the function of LEAFY. These genetic interactions suggest models for how CO, FWA, FT, and SOC1 interact during the transition to flowering

Minimizing hydrodynamic stress in mammalian cell culture through the lobed Taylor‐Couette bioreactor

The objective of the present study was to investigate the effect of hydrodynamic stress heterogeneity on metabolism and productivity of an industrial mammalian cell line. For this purpose, a novel Lobed Taylor-Couette (LTC) mixing unit combining a narrow distribution of hydrodynamic stresses and a membrane aeration system to prevent cell damage by bubble bursting was developed. A hydrodynamic analysis of the LTC was developed to reproduce, in a uniform hydrodynamic environment, the same hydrodynamic stress encountered locally by cells in a stirred tank, particularly at the large scale, e.g., close and far from the impeller. The developed LTC was used to simulate the stress values near the impeller of a laboratory stirred tank bioreactor, equal to about 0.4 Pa, which is however below the threshold value leading to cell death. It was found that the cells actively change their metabolism by increasing lactate production and decreasing titer while the consumption of the main nutrients remains substantially unchanged. When considering average stress values ranging from 1 to 10 Pa found by other researchers to cause physiological response of cells to the hydrodynamic stress in heterogeneous stirred vessels, our results are close to the lower boundary of this interval

Surplus Distribution in Microfinance: Differences Among Cooperative, Nonprofit, and Shareholder Forms of Ownership

How do microfinance institutions (MFIs) allocate their surplus to stakeholders? This article shows that this allocation process varies depending on the MFI ownership structure. Nonprofit organizations and shareholders-held MFIs exhibit a tendency to largely keep their surplus within the MFI as a self-financing margin (reserve accounts, future investments, and capital increase) rather than transferring it to their clients (interest rate decrease) and their employees (salary increase). The surplus distribution in COOPs is more in favor of providers and employees. Finally, the article discusses the importance of these findings for the evaluation of MFIs by policy makers.SCOPUS: ar.jinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishe

EARLY FLOWERING 3 and Photoperiod Sensing in Brachypodium distachyon

The proper timing of flowering, which is key to maximize reproductive success and yield, relies in many plant species on the coordination between environmental cues and endogenous developmental programs. The perception of changes in day length is one of the most reliable cues of seasonal change, and this involves the interplay between the sensing of light signals and the circadian clock. Here, we describe a Brachypodium distachyon mutant allele of the evening complex protein EARLY FLOWERING 3 (ELF3). We show that the elf3 mutant flowers more rapidly than wild type plants in short days as well as under longer photoperiods but, in very long (20 h) days, flowering is equally rapid in elf3 and wild type. Furthermore, flowering in the elf3 mutant is still sensitive to vernalization, but not to ambient temperature changes. Molecular analyses revealed that the expression of a short-day marker gene is suppressed in elf3 grown in short days, and the expression patterns of clock genes and flowering time regulators are altered. We also explored the mechanisms of photoperiodic perception in temperate grasses by exposing B. distachyon plants grown under a 12 h photoperiod to a daily night break consisting of a mixture of red and far-red light. We showed that 2 h breaks are sufficient to accelerate flowering in B. distachyon under non-inductive photoperiods and that this acceleration of flowering is mediated by red light. Finally, we discuss advances and perspectives for research on the perception of photoperiod in temperate grasses