Credibility of the Exchange Rate Policy in Transition Countries

Credibility of an exchange rate policy is one of the most important factors contributing to success or failure of any stabilization program. Authorities usually hope that the public will trust official exchange rate commitments and take decisions regarding domestic currency holdings accordingly. However, as the experience of several countries analyzed in this study shows, this is not always the case. Economic agents behave in line with their own expectations which need not directly reflect central bank's commitments but are most often a combination of official policy and public's own notions regarding its actual future course. There are clear advantages of high credibility of exchange rate policy to the country's disinflation efforts. It can help bring inflation down quicker and reduce inevitable output losses. Naturally, this prompts the question of whether one can quantify credibility and find factors that are affecting it. Various studies found in the literature have attempted to find an answer to this problem. In line with these efforts, our paper tries to shed new light on the issue. It makes use of the new theoretical model specially designed to approximate credibility of exchange rate policy and provides its empirical application for a number of transition economies that have actively used exchange rate policy in their stabilization programs during the 1990s. For each country we present the modelderived coefficient of credibility, draw conclusions from the model's predictions and confront it with the behavior of other macroeconomic indicators. The resulting analysis and discussion enable us to identify a set of possible "independent" factors explaining the developments of credibility. Our paper is composed as follows. Chapter 2 presents the theoretical model and its dynamics. Subsequent chapters are devoted to individual countries and contain empirical estimation of the model and the discussion of results. Chapters 3-10 contain studies of Poland, Bulgaria, Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, Moldova and Georgia. Finally, chapter 11 concludes with summary of results and findings.transition country, credibility, exchange rate

Challenges and Trajectories of Fiscal Policy and PFM Reform in CEE/CIS

The purpose of this study is to provide an overview of fiscal policies and PFM reforms in 7 countries in the Western Balkans and 12 countries in the CIS, including major macroeconomic and poverty trends, fiscal policy, the size and role of the public sector, public expenditure management and its linkage to policy development, the organization of budget processes on the central and local levels, the role of various actors and tools in PFM, including civil society and the international donor community. The period of 2003-2007 was characterized by an extraordinary high rate of economic growth, both worldwide and in the CEE/CIS region. This created macroeconomic room for meeting numerous development challenges: reducing poverty and inequality, improving the quality and coverage of public services, upgrading infrastructure, and advancing various reforms, including those related to PFM. However, the economic situation deteriorated dramatically in 2008 as a result of the global financial crisis, with deep recession hitting most of the countries in 2009 and bleak perspectives for subsequent years. It remains to be seen whether the crisis situation will force governments to speed up necessary reforms. In the PFM area major tasks concern lengthening fiscal planning horizon and gradual movement toward performance oriented budgeting the measure which can allow better expenditure targeting and decrease volatility in expenditure allocation), increasing budget transparency and creating real room for civil society involvement into a budget process. However, the reforms must also involve a broadly defined governance sphere, i.e. improving transparency and accountability of government, modernization of civil service, decentralization, including building a genuine system of local and regional self-government, and other similar measures to improve quality of public services and social policy interventions.public finance management, fiscal policy, Central and Eastern Europe, Western Balkans, Commonwealth of Independent States, social policies, social services, children and families

La teología poética de Karol Wojtyπa: Sus primeros escritos como fuente de su pensamiento maduro

El objetivo de este trabajo es realizar un análisis de los primeros escritos de Karol Wojtyπa como clave para comprender el posterior desarrollo de su pensamiento. Nuestra tesis es que el núcleo esencial de su propia visión filosófica y teológica se encuentra ya en sus obras literarias (poesías y dramas) y en su tesis doctoral dedicada a la teología de fe en los escritos de san Juan de la Cruz. Estos dos momentos, la poesía, que aparece en su vida por primera vez cuando tiene 18 años, y su interés por la mística española, se apoyan y enriquecen mutuamente. En estas primeras obras puede descubrirse la verdadera fuente del pensamiento del futuro papa Juan Pablo II.The papar intends an analysis of the early writings of Karol Wojtyπa, which are essential to understand the subsequent development of his thought. Our thesis is that the core of Wojtyπa’s own philosophical and theological vision is already present both in his early literary works (poems and dramas) and in his doctoral thesis. These two mutually support and enrich eachother. Therefore, the writings in question here may be dealt with as the true source of the thought of John Paul II

La teología poética de Karol Wojtyπa: Sus primeros escritos como fuente de su pensamiento maduro

El objetivo de este trabajo es realizar un análisis de los primeros escritos de Karol Wojtyπa como clave para comprender el posterior desarrollo de su pensamiento. Nuestra tesis es que el núcleo esencial de su propia visión filosófica y teológica se encuentra ya en sus obras literarias (poesías y dramas) y en su tesis doctoral dedicada a la teología de fe en los escritos de san Juan de la Cruz. Estos dos momentos, la poesía, que aparece en su vida por primera vez cuando tiene 18 años, y su interés por la mística española, se apoyan y enriquecen mutuamente. En estas primeras obras puede descubrirse la verdadera fuente del pensamiento del futuro papa Juan Pablo II.The papar intends an analysis of the early writings of Karol Wojtyπa, which are essential to understand the subsequent development of his thought. Our thesis is that the core of Wojtyπa’s own philosophical and theological vision is already present both in his early literary works (poems and dramas) and in his doctoral thesis. These two mutually support and enrich eachother. Therefore, the writings in question here may be dealt with as the true source of the thought of John Paul II

Fab antibody fragment-functionalized liposomes for specific targeting of antigen-positive cells

Liposomes functionalized with monoclonal antibodies or their antigen-binding fragments have attracted much attention as specific drug delivery devices for treatment of various diseases including cancer. The conjugation of antibodies to liposomes is usually achieved by covalent coupling using cross-linkers in a reaction that might adversely affect the characteristics of the final product. Here we present an alternative strategy for liposome functionalization: we created a recombinant Fab antibody fragment genetically fused on its C-terminus to the hydrophobic peptide derived from pulmonary surfactant protein D, which became inserted into the liposomal bilayer during liposomal preparation and anchored the Fab onto the liposome surface. The Fab-conjugated liposomes specifically recognized antigen-positive cells and efficiently delivered their cargo, the Alexa Fluor 647 dye, into target cells in vitro and in vivo. In conclusion, our approach offers the potential for straightforward development of nanomedicines functionalized with an antibody of choice without the need of harmful cross-linkers.This work has received funding from the European Union's Seventh Framework Program (FP7/2007-2013; grant agreement NMP4-LA-2009-228827 NANOFOL) and Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Program (grant agreement No 683356 - FOLSMART), further from the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology under the scope of the strategic funding of UID/BIO/04469/2013 unit and COMPETE 2020 (POCI-01-0145-FEDER-006684) and BioTecNorte operation (NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000004) funded by the European Regional Development Fund under the scope of Norte2020.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Cabbage and fermented vegetables : From death rate heterogeneity in countries to candidates for mitigation strategies of severe COVID-19

Large differences in COVID-19 death rates exist between countries and between regions of the same country. Some very low death rate countries such as Eastern Asia, Central Europe, or the Balkans have a common feature of eating large quantities of fermented foods. Although biases exist when examining ecological studies, fermented vegetables or cabbage have been associated with low death rates in European countries. SARS-CoV-2 binds to its receptor, the angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2). As a result of SARS-CoV-2 binding, ACE2 downregulation enhances the angiotensin II receptor type 1 (AT(1)R) axis associated with oxidative stress. This leads to insulin resistance as well as lung and endothelial damage, two severe outcomes of COVID-19. The nuclear factor (erythroid-derived 2)-like 2 (Nrf2) is the most potent antioxidant in humans and can block in particular the AT(1)R axis. Cabbage contains precursors of sulforaphane, the most active natural activator of Nrf2. Fermented vegetables contain many lactobacilli, which are also potent Nrf2 activators. Three examples are: kimchi in Korea, westernized foods, and the slum paradox. It is proposed that fermented cabbage is a proof-of-concept of dietary manipulations that may enhance Nrf2-associated antioxidant effects, helpful in mitigating COVID-19 severity.Peer reviewe

Nrf2-interacting nutrients and COVID-19 : time for research to develop adaptation strategies

There are large between- and within-country variations in COVID-19 death rates. Some very low death rate settings such as Eastern Asia, Central Europe, the Balkans and Africa have a common feature of eating large quantities of fermented foods whose intake is associated with the activation of the Nrf2 (Nuclear factor (erythroid-derived 2)-like 2) anti-oxidant transcription factor. There are many Nrf2-interacting nutrients (berberine, curcumin, epigallocatechin gallate, genistein, quercetin, resveratrol, sulforaphane) that all act similarly to reduce insulin resistance, endothelial damage, lung injury and cytokine storm. They also act on the same mechanisms (mTOR: Mammalian target of rapamycin, PPAR gamma:Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor, NF kappa B: Nuclear factor kappa B, ERK: Extracellular signal-regulated kinases and eIF2 alpha:Elongation initiation factor 2 alpha). They may as a result be important in mitigating the severity of COVID-19, acting through the endoplasmic reticulum stress or ACE-Angiotensin-II-AT(1)R axis (AT(1)R) pathway. Many Nrf2-interacting nutrients are also interacting with TRPA1 and/or TRPV1. Interestingly, geographical areas with very low COVID-19 mortality are those with the lowest prevalence of obesity (Sub-Saharan Africa and Asia). It is tempting to propose that Nrf2-interacting foods and nutrients can re-balance insulin resistance and have a significant effect on COVID-19 severity. It is therefore possible that the intake of these foods may restore an optimal natural balance for the Nrf2 pathway and may be of interest in the mitigation of COVID-19 severity