Neotropical Cerambycidae (Coleoptera) primarily in the Canadian Museum of Nature, Ottawa. I. Falsamblesthiini (Lamiinae)

The following new species are described: Nyctonympha andersoni, sp. n., and N. howdenarum, sp. n., both from Colombia; N. genieri, sp. n., from Ecuador; N. taeniata, sp. n., from Trinidad; Falsamblesthis microps, sp. n., from Venezuela; Bactriola circundata, sp. n., from Brazil (Rio de Janeiro); B. maculata, sp. n., from Venezuela and Ecuador; and B. falsa, sp. n., from Brazil (Minas Gerais to Rio Grande do Sul). A redescription of Bactriola vittulata Bates, 1886, herein designated as the type species of the genus, is provided. Accurate data on the occurrence of Saepiseuthes chilensis Thomson, 1868, in Chile are given. Keys to the species of Bactriola Bates, 1886 and Nyctonympha Thomson, 1868 are added

The yield curve and the macro-economy across time and frequencies

This paper assesses the relation between the yield curve and the main macroeconomic variables in the U.S. between early 1960s and 2009 across time and frequencies, using wavelet analyses. The shape of the yield curve is modelled by latent factors corresponding to its level, slope and curvature, estimated by maximum likelihood with the Kalman filter. The macroeconomic variables measure econmic activity, unemployment, inflation and the fed funds rate. The cross wavelet tools employed - coherency and phase difference - , the set of variables and the length of the sample, allow for a thorough appraisal of the time- variation and structural breaks in the direction,intensity,synchronization and periodicity of the relation between the yield curve and the macro-economy. Our evidence establishes a number of new stylized facts on the yield curve-macro relation; and sheds light on several results found in the literature, which could not have been achieved with analyses conducted strictly in the time-domain(as most of the literature)or purely in the frequency-domain.Macro-finance; Yield curve; Kalman filter; Continuous wavelet transform;Wavelet coherency;Phase-difference

The yield curve and the macro-economy across time and frequencies

This paper assesses the relation between the yield curve and the main macroeconomic variables in the U.S. between early 1960s and 2010 across time and frequencies, using wavelet analyses. The shape of the yield curve is modelled by latent factors corresponding to its level, slope and curvature, estimated by maximum likelihood with the Kalman filter. The macroeconomic variables measure economic activity, unemployment, inflation and the fed funds rate. The cross wavelet tools employed — coherency and phase difference —, the set of variables and the length of the sample, allow for a thorough appraisal of the timevariation and structural breaks in the direction, intensity, synchronization and periodicity of the relation between the yield curve and the macro-economy. Our evidence establishes a number of new stylized facts on the yield curve-macro relation; and sheds light on several results found in the literature, which could not have been achieved with analyses conducted strictly in the time-domain (as most of the literature) or purely in the frequency-domain.Macro-finance; Yield curve; Kalman filter; Continuous wavelet transform; Wavelet coherency; Phase-difference.

Synchronization of Economic Sentiment Cycles in the Euro Area: a time-frequency analysis

We use wavelet tools and Economic Sentiment Indicators to study the synchronization of economic cycles in the Euro Area. We assess the time-varying and frequency-varying pattern of business cycles synchronization in the Area and test the impact of the creation of the European Monetary Union in 1999. Among several results, we find that (a) the EMU is associated with a significant increase in synchronization of economic sentiment in the Euro Area; (b) the hard-peg of its currency to the Euro led to a comparable synchronization of Denmark's economic sentiment after 1999, differently from what happened in the case of the UK.Business cycle synchronization; Economic sentiment; Euro Area; Continuous wavelet transform; Wavelet coherency; Wavelet distance; Phase-difference.

In search of lost time constants and of non-Michaelis–Menten parameters

SummaryUpon completing 100 years since it was published, the work Die Kinetik der Invertinwirkung by Michaelis and Menten (MM) was celebrated during the 6th Beilstein ESCEC Symposium 2013. As the 7th Beilstein ESCEC Symposium 2015 debates enzymology in the context of complex biological systems, a post-MM approach is required to address cell-like conditions that are well beyond the steady-state limitations. The present contribution specifically addresses two hitherto ambiguous constants whose interest was, however, intuited in the original MM paper: (i) the characteristic time constant τ∞, which can be determined using the late stages of any progress curve independently of the substrate concentration adopted; and (ii) the dissociation constant KS, which is indicative of the enzyme–substrate affinity and completes the kinetic portrayal of the Briggs–Haldane reaction scheme. The rationale behind τ∞ and KS prompted us to revise widespread concepts of enzyme's efficiency, defined by the specificity constant kcat/KM, and of the Michaelis constant KM seen as the substrate concentration yielding half-maximal rates. The alternative definitions here presented should help recovering the wealth of published kcat/KM and KM data from the criticism that they are subjected. Finally, a practical method is envisaged for objectively determining enzyme's activity, efficiency and affinity – (EA)2 – from single progress curves. The (EA)2 assay can be conveniently applied even when the concentrations of substrate and enzyme are not accurately known

Ucai, a new genus of Anacolini (Coleoptera, Cerambycidae, Prioninae) from Brazil

Novos táxons descritos: Ucai gen. nov. espécie-tipo, Ucai nascimentoi sp. nov. de São Paulo.New taxa described: Ucai gen. nov., type-species, Ucai nascimentoi sp. nov. from São Paulo

Novas espécies, nova sinonímia e novo registro em Cerambycidae (Coleoptera) do México e da América do Sul

São descritos três novos táxons de Cerambycinae do Brasil: em Cerambycini, Iuati gen. nov., espécie-tipo, I. spinithorax sp. nov. (Rondônia); em Trachyderini, Ancylosternus annulicorne sp. nov. (Mato Grosso). Em Lamiinae são descritas três espécies novas: em Apomecynini, Ptericoptus avanyae sp. nov. (Brasil, Paraíba); em Desmiphorini, Estoloides (Estoloides) aurantius sp. nov. (México, Quintana Roo); Mimestoloides fasciatus sp. nov. (México, Guerrero). Butherium scabricolle Nonfried, 1895 é considerada sinônimo de Coleoxestia corvina (Germar, 1824). Trachyderomorpha notabilis Tippmann, 1960 é registrada para o Peru.New species, new synonymy and new record in Cerambycidae (Coleoptera) from Mexico and South America. Three new taxa of Cerambycinae from Brazil are described: in Cerambycini, Iuati gen. nov., type species, I. spinithorax sp. nov. (Rondônia); in Trachyderini, Ancylosternus annulicorne sp. nov. (Mato Grosso). In Lamiinae are described three new species: in Apomecynini, Ptericoptus avanyae sp. nov. (Brazil, Paraíba); in Desmiphorini, Estoloides (Estoloides) aurantius sp. nov. (Mexico, Quintana Roo); Mimestoloides fasciatus sp. nov. (Mexico, Guerrero). Butherium scabricolle Nonfried, 1895 is considered a synonym of Coleoxestia corvina (Germar, 1824). Trachyderomorpha notabilis Tippmann, 1960 is recorded for Peru

New species of Desmiphorini (Coleoptera, Cerambycidae, Lamiinae) from Costa Rica and Ecuador

Novas espécies são descritas: Eupogonius lateralis sp. nov., Estola nigrodorsalis sp. nov., Pseudestoloides rubiginosa sp. nov de Heredia (Costa Rica); Pseudestoloides affinis sp. nov. de Guanacaste and Puntarenas (Costa Rica); Mimopogonius hovorei sp. nov. de Azuay (Equador).New species are described: Eupogonius lateralis sp. nov., Estola nigrodorsalis sp. nov. and Pseudestoloides rubiginosa sp. nov. from Heredia (Costa Rica); Pseudestoloides affinis sp. nov. from Guanacaste and Puntarenas (Costa Rica); Mimopogonius hovorei sp. nov. from Azuay (Ecuador)

New taxa in Elaphidionini and Eburiini (Cerambycidae, Cerambycinae)

São descritos novos táxons em Cerambycinae, Elaphidionini: Parapantonyssus gen. nov., espécie-tipo, P. ipiri sp. nov. da Guatemala (San Marcos); Aposphaerion nigritum sp. nov. da Bolívia. Em Eburiini: Beraba tate sp. nov., da Bolívia; Eburodacrys translucida do Brasil (Paraíba); E. errata sp. nov. e E. fraterna sp. nov. da Bolívia.Described in Elaphidionini: Parapantonyssus gen. nov., type species, P. ipiri sp. nov. from Guatemala; Aposphaerion nigritum sp. nov. from Bolivia. In Eburiini: Beraba tate sp. nov. from Bolivia; Eburodacrys translucidum sp. nov. from Brazil (Paraíba); E. errata sp. nov. and E. fraterna sp. nov. from Bolivia