Evaluating Changes in the Monetary Transmission Mechanism in the Czech Republic

We investigate the evolution of the monetary policy transmission mechanism in the Czech Republic over the 1996-2010 period by employing a time-varying parameters Bayesian vector autoregression model with stochastic volatility. We evaluate whether the response of GDP and the price level to exchange rate or interest rate shocks changes over time, with a focus on the period of the recent financial crisis. Furthermore, we augment the estimated system with a lending rate and credit growth to shed light on the relative importance of financial shocks for the macroeconomic environment. Our results suggest that output and prices have become increasingly responsive to monetary policy shocks, probably reflecting financial sector deepening, more persistent monetary policy shocks, and overall economic development associated with disinflation. On the other hand, exchange rate pass-through has weakened somewhat over time, suggesting improved credibility of inflation targeting in the Czech Republic with anchored inflation expectations. We find that credit shocks had a more sizeable impact on output and prices during the period of bank restructuring with difficult access to credit. In general, our results show that financial shocks are less important for the aggregate economy in an environment of a stable financial system.Monetary policy transmission, sign restrictions, time-varying parameters.

How to Solve the Price Puzzle? A Meta-Analysis

The short-run increase in prices following an unexpected tightening of monetary policy represents a frequently reported puzzle. Yet the puzzle is surprisingly easy to explain away when all published models are quantitatively reviewed. We collect about 1,000 point estimates of impulse responses from 70 articles using vector autoregressive models and present a simple method of research synthesis for graphical results. We find some evidence of publication selection against the price puzzle. Our results suggest that the reported impulse responses depend systematically on the study design: when misspecifications are filtered out, the average impulse response shows that prices decrease soon after a tightening. The long-run response of prices to monetary policy shocks depends on the characteristics of the economy.Meta-analysis, monetary policy transmission, price puzzle, publication selection bias.

Spatio-Temporal Features of Visual Exploration in Unilaterally Brain-Damaged Subjects with or without Neglect: Results from a Touchscreen Test

Cognitive assessment in a clinical setting is generally made by pencil-and-paper tests, while computer-based tests enable the measurement and the extraction of additional performance indexes. Previous studies have demonstrated that in a research context exploration deficits occur also in patients without evidence of unilateral neglect at pencil-and-paper tests. The objective of this study is to apply a touchscreen-based cancellation test, feasible also in a clinical context, to large groups of control subjects and unilaterally brain-damaged patients, with and without unilateral spatial neglect (USN), in order to assess disturbances of the exploratory skills. A computerized cancellation test on a touchscreen interface was used for assessing the performance of 119 neurologically unimpaired control subjects and 193 patients with unilateral right or left hemispheric brain damage, either with or without USN. A set of performance indexes were defined including Latency, Proximity, Crossings and their spatial lateral gradients, and Preferred Search Direction. Classic outcome scores were computed as well. Results show statistically significant differences among groups (assumed p<0.05). Right-brain-damaged patients with USN were significantly slower (median latency per detected item was 1.18 s) and less efficient (about 13 search-path crossings) in the search than controls (median latency 0.64 s; about 3 crossings). Their preferred search direction (53.6% downward, 36.7% leftward) was different from the one in control patients (88.2% downward, 2.1% leftward). Right-brain-damaged patients without USN showed a significantly abnormal behavior (median latency 0.84 s, about 5 crossings, 83.3% downward and 9.1% leftward direction) situated half way between controls and right-brain-damaged patients with USN. Left-brain-damaged patients without USN were significantly slower and less efficient than controls (latency 1.19 s, about 7 crossings), preserving a normal preferred search direction (93.7% downward). Therefore, the proposed touchscreen-based assessment had evidenced disorders in spatial exploration also in patients without clinically diagnosed USN

Visuospatial neglect after stroke:heterogeneity, diagnosis and treatment.

The general objective of this thesis was to better understand and treat visuospatial neglect, a frequent and disabling disorder in lateralized attention. The first aim was to further unravel visuospatial neglect by focusing on several subtypes. In neglect research, mostly patients with left-sided neglect are included. Knowledge regarding neglect is, therefore, mainly based on a subset of patients. This is unfortunate, however, as our study showed that left- and right-sided neglect are both common after stroke. Furthermore, both patients with left- and right-sided neglect are less independent in mobility and self-care. It is, therefore, of great importance to adequately diagnose and treat both subtypes. Another subtype regards region-specific neglect. We studied neural substrates of peripersonal (i.e. within arm length) and extrapersonal (i.e. beyond arm length) neglect, and found that several right temporal and thalamic regions were related to both peripersonal and extrapersonal neglect, and several additional right temporal, parietal and occipital regions were only related to extrapersonal neglect. None of the brain regions were only related to peripersonal neglect. It seems that mostly shared anatomical regions are related to peripersonal and extrapersonal neglect. Today’s diagnosis of neglect lacks sensitivity, and discrepancies exist between performance on paper-and-pencil tasks and patient functioning in daily life. This is problematic for accurate diagnosis of neglect and for proper evaluation of rehabilitation interventions. We evaluated a dynamic multitask to assess neglect in a sensitive manner: the Mobility Assessment Course. An association existed between performance on the Mobility Assessment Course and performance on standard paper-and-pencil neglect tasks. Especially patients who were ‘recovered’, based on the paper-and-pencil tasks, showed neglect during the Mobility Assessment Course. This fits the hypothesis that this task may detect neglect in patients who do not show neglect during standard paper-and-pencil tasks. Next, we evaluated the potential of digitized neuropsychological testing. Next to the attentional bias, other cognitive processes that may relate to attention can be evaluated in more detail, such as search organization, involved in many daily processes and often disturbed after stroke. We studied search organization in stroke patients and found that, although disorganized search is related to neglect, this is only a weak relation, and it might be a separate cognitive construct. We conclude that analysing measures of search provides useful additional insights into the lower-order visuospatial processes of stroke patients. Finally, we evaluated the long-term effects of early treatment with prism adaptation compared to sham adaptation on neglect behaviour in daily life.Both patient groups (i.e., receiving sham adaptation and prism adaptation) improved on dynamic and static outcome measures of neglect. However, no differences were seen between groups. One of the main reasons for these neutral results could relate to the heterogeneity of the disorder, enhanced by the spontaneous neurobiological recovery in especially the subacute phase post-stroke onset or standard treatment effects (care as usual). They could have overshadowed the potential effects of prism adaptation. To conclude, prism adaptation is not effective for all patients with neglect, and, based on these results, should not be implemented in clinical practice

The Height of Piecewise-Testable Languages with Applications in Logical Complexity

The height of a piecewise-testable language L is the maximum length of the words needed to define L by excluding and requiring given subwords. The height of L is an important descriptive complexity measure that has not yet been investigated in a systematic way. This paper develops a series of new techniques for bounding the height of finite languages and of languages obtained by taking closures by subwords, superwords and related operations. As an application of these results, we show that FO^2(A^*, subword), the two-variable fragment of the first-order logic of sequences with the subword ordering, can only express piecewise-testable properties and has elementary complexity

HAKIKAT TUJUAN PENDIDIKAN ISLAM PERSPEKTIF IMAM AL-GHAZALI

Pendidikan sebagai upaya untuk membangun sumber daya manusia memerlukan wawasan yang sangat luas. karena pendidikan menyangkut seluruh aspek kehidupan manusia baik dalam pemikiran maupun dalam pengalamannya. Oleh karena itu, pembahasan pendidikan tidak cukup berdasarkan pengalaman saja, melainkan dibutuhkan suatu pemikiran yang luas dan mendalam. Salah satunya adalah Imam Al-Ghazali merupakan seorang pemikir besar, sufi dan praktisi pendidikan di dunia Islam. Dalam kajian ini akan dijelaskan tentang hakikat tujuan pendidikan Islam menurut Imam Al-Ghazali. Penelitian ini merupakan penelitian literatur dengan mengkaji tentang hakikat tujuan pendidikan Islam Perspektif Imam Al-Ghazali. Hasil temuan penelitian menunjukkan bahwa; taqarrub (mendekatkan diri) kepada Allah adalah tujuan pendidikan Islam yang terpenting. Menguasai ilmu bagi Imam Al-Ghazali adalah sebagai media untuk taqarrub kepada Allah dimana tak satupun bisa sampai kepadanya tanpa ilmu

«Di Rusn!»: евреи Западной Белоруссии встречают Красную армию, 1939–1940 годы

Анализируется отношение еврейского населения Западной Белоруссии к приходу Красной армии. Обосновываются причины радости большинства еврейского населения присоединенного региона при встрече с советской армией. Кроме того, в настоящей статье характеризуется пропаган-дистская и агитационная деятельность красноармейцев в Западной Белруссии осенью 1939 г., а также практика их совместного проживания с представителями местного населения в коммунальных квартирах. Автор приходит к заключению – вступление Красной армии вызвало чувство радости у подавляющей массы еврейского населения региона, но впоследствии красноармейцы своим поведением (покупательским ажиотажем и пьянством) значительно дискредитировали себя в глазах местного населения и не оправдали возложенных на них пропагандистских и агитационных функци

Pendidikan Islam Prespektif Imam Al-Ghazali dalam Meningkatkan Nilai Moral Anak

Abstract This study aims to describe the Islamic education from the perspective of Imam Al-Ghazali in improving children's moral value. This type of research is a library research with a qualitative descriptive approach. The data collection technique uses documentation techniques, in the form of books, literature, journals, and written documents in both print and electronic media. While the data analysis technique uses content analysis techniques (content analysis). The results show that the concept of Islamic Education According to Al-Ghazali is actually based on his thoughts on humans whose nature will not change, so that the concept is always actual and never obsolete, and is able to answer the challenges facing the world of education today. In actualizing Islamic education in enhancing children's moral values, Al-Ghazali sparked a special method of Moral education, the exemplary method is the method most prioritized by Al-Ghazali to increase children's moral values. Keywords: Islamic education; Moral of the Child; Imam Al-GhazaliAbstraksi Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mendeskripsikan pendidikan Islam prespektif Imam Al-Ghazali dalam meningkatkan nilai moral anak. Jenis penelitian ini adalah kajian pustaka (library research) dengan pendekatan deskriptif kualitatif. Teknik pengumpulan datanya menggunakan teknik dokumentasi, yang berupa buku-buku, literatur, jurnal, dan dokumen-dokumen tertulis baik dalam bentuk media cetak maupun media elektronik. Sedangkan teknik analisis datanya menggunakan teknik analisis isi (content analysis). Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa Konsep Pendidikan Islam Menurut Al-Ghazali secara actual telah dilandasi oleh pemikirannya terhadap manusia yang fitrahnya tidak akan berubah, sehingga konsepnya selalu actual dan tidak pernah usang, dan mampu menjawab tantangan-tantangan yang sedang dihadapi dunia pendidikan dewasa ini. Dalam mengaktualisasikan pendidikan Islam dalam meningkatkan nilai-nilai moral anak, Al-Ghazali mencetuskan sebuah metode khusus tentang pendidikan Akhlak, metode keteladanan adalah metode yang paling diutamakan oleh Al-Ghazali untuk meningkatkan nilai- nilai moral anak. Kata Kunci: Pendidikan Islam; Moral Anak; Imam Al-Ghazal

PENDIDIKAN KARAKTER PERSPEKTIF AL-GHAZALI: Analisis terhadap Pemikiran al-Ghazali tentang Pendidikan Karakter Sebagai Solusi Problem Dekadensi Moral dan Signifikansinya dalam Pendidikan di Indonesia

Kajian pendidikan karakter ini menyajikan analisis pemikiran seorang ahli filsafat Pendidikan Islam bernama Al-Ghazali. Dalam penelitian ini, pemikiran Al-Ghazali tentang karakter berkaitan erat dengan konsep moral. Konsep moral (karakter) dalam pemikiran al-Ghazali dibagi menjadi dua kategori, yaitu kategori karakter yang harus dihindari dan kategori karakter yang harus dilakukan dalam proses pendidikan. Melalui kategori di atas, al-Ghazali berfokus pada pendidikan karakter husnul huluq (perilaku baik). Konsep husnul huluq menurutnya merupakan inti dari pendidikan karakter. Sehingga, pendidikan karakter Al-Ghazali sangat relevan untuk mengatasi masalah dekadensi moral yang kita hadapi saat ini dan di masa depan. Konsep pendidikan karakter al-Ghazali dapat dianalisis dengan tiga cara, antara lain: Karakter Manusia Cenderung Konservatif, Tidak Dapat Dipisahkan dari Teosentris dan Dipengaruhi oleh Pengalaman Spiritual. Pendidikan karakter al-Ghazali juga memiliki arti yang tinggi dalam pendidikan di Indonesia. Terbukti dari pesantren hingga perguruan tinggi keagamaan, karya-karyanya selalu dijadikan acuan dan bahan diskusi. Tak hanya itu, pendidikan karakternya tertuang dalam seluruh komponen pendidikan. Komponen pendidikan meliputi tujuan pendidikan, kurikulum, metode, pendidik dan peserta didik