Cutting the Climate-Development Gordian Knot - Economic options in a politically constrained world

Combating climate change cannot but be a cooperative venture amongst nations. Together with the problem posed by the withdrawal of the US from the Kyoto Protocol, the key challenge for winning the battle is the involvement of developing countries in efforts to alter their GHGs emissions trends. This involvement is necessary technically but also politically to bring the largest emitter of the planet back on the battle field. In the first section we draw on history to outline the intellectual underpinning of North/South divide around climate affairs. In the second section we show the economic basis for a leverage effect between development and climate policies. The third section ventures to propose some guidance to develop a viable climate regime strong enough to support an ambitious effort to decarbonize economies and we show that the Kyoto framework, once re-interpreted and amended is not so far from this working drawing.climate policy; development

Trade, Exchange Rate Regimes and Output Co-Movement: Evidence from the Great Depression

A large body of cross-country empirical evidence identifies monetary policy and trade integration as key determinants of business cycle co-movement. Partially consistent with this, many argue that the re-emergence of the gold standard allowed for the global transmission of a deflationary shock in 1929 that culminated in the Great Depression. It is puzzling then to see decreased co-movement between 1920 and 1927 when international integration increased and nations returned to the gold standard. Fixed exchange rates and global trade were also on the rise after 1932, but co-movement declined again. Our empirical results shows that exchange rate regimes and trade were associated with higher co-movement at the bilateral level while common shocks and exchange control policies also mattered. Much of the fall after 1932 was driven by the rise of smaller blocs of monetary and trade cooperation and an inter-bloc fall in co-movement.

Cutting the Climate-Development Gordian Knot - <br />Economic options in a politically constrained world

http://www.cesifo.deCombating climate change cannot but be a cooperative venture amongst nations. Together with the problem posed by the withdrawal of the US from the Kyoto Protocol, the key challenge for winning the battle is the involvement of developing countries in efforts to alter their GHGs emissions trends. This involvement is necessary technically but also politically to bring the largest emitter of the planet back on the battle field. In the first section we draw on history to outline the intellectual underpinning of North/South divide around climate affairs. In the second section we show the economic basis for a leverage effect between development and climate policies. The third section ventures to propose some guidance to develop a viable climate regime strong enough to support an ambitious effort to decarbonize economies and we show that the Kyoto framework, once re-interpreted and amended is not so far from this working drawing

Search for weak M1 transitions in 48^{48}Ca with inelastic proton scattering

The spinflip M1 resonance in the doubly magic nucleus $^{48}$Ca, dominated by a single transition, serves as a reference case for the quenching of spin-isospin modes in nuclei. The aim of the present work is a search for weak M1 transitions in $^{48}$Ca with a high-resolution (p,p') experiment at 295 MeV and forward angles including 0 degree and a comparison to results from a similar study using backward-angle electron scattering at low momentum transfers in order to estimate their contribution to the total B(M1) strength. M1 cross sections of individual peaks in the spectra are deduced with a multipole decomposition analysis. The corresponding reduced B(M1) transition strengths are extracted following the approach outlined in J. Birkhan et al., Phys. Rev. C 93, 041302(R) (2016). In total, 29 peaks containing a M1 contribution are found in the excitation energy region 7 - 13 MeV. The resulting B(M1) strength distribution compares well to the electron scattering results considering different factors limiting the sensitivity in both experiments and the enhanced importance of mechanisms breaking the proportionality of nuclear cross sections and electromagnetic matrix elements for weak transitions as studied here. The total strength of 1.19(6) $\mu_N^2$ deduced assuming a non-quenched isoscalar part of the (p,p') cross sections agrees with the (e,e') result of 1.21(13) $\mu_N^2$. A binwise analysis above 10 MeV provides an upper limit of 1.62(23) $\mu_N^2$. The present results confirm that weak transitions contribute about 25% to the total B(M1) strength in $^{48}$Ca and the quenching factors of GT and spin-M1 strength are comparable in fp-shell nuclei. Thus, the role of of meson exchange currents seems to be neglible, in contrast to sd-shell nuclei.Comment: 11 pages, 9 figures, revised analysis with oxygen contamination remove

Inner speech sustains predictable task switching: direct evidence in adults

It has been proposed that inner speech supports task selection in task-switching studies, especially when the need for endogenous control is increased. This has been established through the suppression of inner speech in cognitive-flexibility tasks that leads to poorer performance. The aim of this study is to quantify the role of inner speech in a flexibility task by using surface laryngeal electromyography, which, contrary to previous studies, enables participants to freely verbalise the tasks. We manipulated endogenous and exogenous flexibility in a mathematical switching task paradigm. Experiment 1 shows that inner speech acts as a support for switching and is recruited more often when the tasks are of an endogenous type. The main result of Experiment 2 that language is recruited more for the mixing cost than for the switch cost (regardless of the endogenous factor) extends past findings obtained through articulatory suppression

Defect mediated melting and the breaking of quantum double symmetries

In this paper, we apply the method of breaking quantum double symmetries to some cases of defect mediated melting. The formalism allows for a systematic classification of possible defect condensates and the subsequent confinement and/or liberation of other degrees of freedom. We also show that the breaking of a double symmetry may well involve a (partial) restoration of an original symmetry. A detailed analysis of a number of simple but representative examples is given, where we focus on systems with global internal and external (space) symmetries. We start by rephrasing some of the well known cases involving an Abelian defect condensate, such as the Kosterlitz-Thouless transition and one-dimensional melting, in our language. Then we proceed to the non-Abelian case of a hexagonal crystal, where the hexatic phase is realized if translational defects condense in a particular rotationally invariant state. Other conceivable phases are also described in our framework.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figures, updated reference

Protective activity of propofol, Diprivan and intralipid against active oxygen species.

We separately studied the antioxidant properties of propofol (PPF), Diprivan (the commercial form of PPF) and intralipid (IL) (the vehicle solution of PPF in Diprivan) on active oxygen species produced by phorbol myristate acetate (10(-6) M)-stimulated human polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMN: 5 x 10(5) cells/assay), human endothelial cells (5 x 10(5) cells/assay) or cell-free systems (NaOCl or H2O2/peroxidase systems), using luminol (10(-4) M)-enhanced chemiluminescence (CL). We also studied the protective effects of Diprivan on endothelial cells submitted to an oxidant stress induced by H2O2/MPO system: cytotoxicity was assessed by the release of preincorporated 51Cr. Propofol inhibited the CL produced by stimulated PMN in a dose dependent manner (until 5 x 10(-5) M, a clinically relevant concentration), while Diprivan and IL were not dose-dependent inhibitors. The CL produced by endothelial cells was dose-dependently inhibited by Diprivan and PPF, and weakly by IL (not dose-dependent). In cell free systems, dose-dependent inhibitions were obtained for the three products with a lower effect for IL. Diprivan efficaciously protected endothelial cells submitted to an oxidant stress, while IL was ineffective. By HPLC, we demonstrated that PPF was not incorporated into the cells. The drug thus acted by scavenging the active oxygen species released in the extracellular medium. IL acted in the same manner, but was a less powerful antioxidant

French translation and validation of the Jefferson Scale of Empathy - Health Professions Student version

Background: Background: Jefferson Scale of Empathy is one of the most widely used tools worldwide to assess empathy. The extended version for Health Professions Students (JSE HPS) has not yet been translated into French. Objective: The aim of our study was to translate the JSE HPS into French and assess the psychometric properties of this new version (JSE HPS Fr). Methods: The JSE HPS was translated according to international recommendations. The main psychometric qualities (test-retest reliability, internal consistency, floor and ceiling effects and construct validity) were studied in a sample of physiotherapy students. Participants provided general information (age, gender, year of study) and completed the JSE HPS Fr and the Questionnaire of Cognitive and Affective Empathy (QCAE). Participants were also asked to complete the JSE-HPS-Fr again one week later to assess its test-retest reliability. Results: 408 students (161 males and 247 females; mean age: 21.3 years) participated. The JSE HPS Fr demonstrated good test-retest reliability for the total score (ICC=0.81) and good internal consistency (α Cronbach: 0.79). The JSE HPS also showed good convergent validity with the QCAE questionnaire (r=0.41, p<0.05). No floor or ceiling effects were observed. Conclusions: The results indicate that the JSE HPS Fr is a valid and reliable tool to assess the level of empathy of French-speaking physiotherapy students