The impact of monetary policy on New Zealand business cycles and inflation variability

This paper uses the open economy structural VAR model developed in Buckle, Kim, Kirkham, McLellan and Sharma (2002) to evaluate the impact of monetary policy on New Zealand business cycles and inflation variability and the output/ inflation variance trade-off. The model includes a forward- looking Taylor Rule to identify monetary policy and the impact of monetary policy is evaluated by deriving a monetary policy index using a procedure suggested by Dungey and Pagan (2000). Monetary policy has generally been counter-cyclical, thereby reducing business cycles and inflation variability. Exceptions are in 1993 when monetary policy accentuated the business cycle upswing and in 1998 when monetary policy accentuated the recession, although its impact in 1998 was small relative to the impact of adverse climatic conditions. During the initial years of inflation targeting monetary policy tended to simultaneously reduce inflation and output variability. From 1996 to 2001 monetary policy was less effective in reducing inflation and output variability. This latter period included a brief experiment with a Monetary Conditions Index, the Asian crisis and a large adverse domestic climate shock.Monetary policy; inflation targeting, business cycles; open economy; structural VAR models; inflation, interest rates, exchange rates, climate; international linkages

Does the distribution of ready to use food products for the prevention of undernutrition meet the ultimate needs of the beneficiary?

Various nutrition products are increasingly being used to treat  undernutrition in humanitarian and development interventions. The United Nations (UN), International Non-Governmental Organizations (INGOs), and donor agencies have increased their promotion of Ready to Use Foods (RUF) -both therapeutic and supplementary- for the prevention of  undernutrition. Undernutrition is a major global public health problem and remains a leading cause of death of children worldwide. Irreversible changes on normal physical growth and cognitive development in  undernourished children can have lasting consequences in terms of  increased susceptibility to disease, threatened livelihoods, and shortened lifespans. Undernutrition is commonly found in low-income groups, in developing countries, and is strongly associated with poverty. Major  consensus exists regarding the use of Ready to Use Therapeutic Foods  (RUTF) in the treatment of Severe and Acute Malnutrition (SAM). There is,  however, less evidence to support the use of RUF in the prevention of  undernutrition. Some humanitarian actors worry that too great of a focus on the distribution of RUF in the prevention of undernutrition will detract from investments in preventative long-term and sustainable interventions that address the multiple causes of undernutrition and food insecurity.  Sustainable interventions lie in the development of more productive local agricultural, a more diverse mix of nutritious crops, and a greater public  awareness regarding feasible, low-cost, and local approaches to a healthy diet. RUF has little to no role to play in the prevention of undernutrition.  Interventions implemented to prevent undernutrition need to focus on  programs and not products as essential components of their design. This article examines RUF and its current indications for use, the evidence for the use of RUF in the prevention of undernutrition, and advocates for humanitarian actors and donor agencies to strongly support sustainable and empowering interventions over the importation and distribution of prepackaged foreign made solutions.Key words: Undernutrition, Prevention, RUF, Humanitarian, Sustainabilit

Human infectivity trait in <i>Trypanosoma brucei</i>: stability, heritability and relationship to sra expression

Some Trypanosoma brucei lines infect humans whereas others do not because the parasites are lysed by human serum. We have developed a robust, quantitative in vitro assay based on differential uptake of fluorescent dyes by live and dead trypanosomes to quantify the extent and kinetics of killing by human serum. This method has been used to discriminate between 3 classes of human serum resistance; sensitive, resistant and intermediate. TREU 927/4, the parasite used for the T. brucei genome project, is intermediate. The phenotype is expressed in both bloodstream and metacyclic forms, is stably expressed during chromic infections and on cyclical transmission through tsetse flies. Trypanosomes of intermediate phenotype are distinguished from sensitive populations of cells by the slower rate of lysis and by the potential to become fully resistant to killing by human serum as a result of selection or long-term serial passaging in mice, and to pass on full resistance phenotype to its progeny in a genetic cross. The sra gene has been shown previously to determine human serum resistance in T. brucei but screening for the presence and expression of this gene indicated that it is not responsible for the human serum resistance phenotype in the trypanosome lines that we have examined, indicating that an alternative mechanism for HSR exists in these stocks. Examination of the inheritance of the phenotype in F1 hybrids for both bloodstream and metacyclic stages from 2 genetic crosses demonstrated that the phenotype is co-inherited in both life-cycle stages in a manner consistent with being a Mendelian trait, determined by only one or a few genes

Alien Registration- Mclellan, Winifred A. (Portland, Cumberland County)

https://digitalmaine.com/alien_docs/26719/thumbnail.jp

Alien Registration- Mclellan, Donald A. (Freedom, Waldo County)

https://digitalmaine.com/alien_docs/5213/thumbnail.jp

Induction of Colonic Aberrant Crypts in Mice by Feeding Apparent N-Nitroso Compounds Derived From Hot Dogs

Nitrite-preserved meats (e.g., hot dogs) may help cause colon cancer because they contain N-nitroso compounds. We tested whether purified hot-dog-derived total apparent N-nitroso compounds (ANC) could induce colonic aberrant crypts, which are putative precursors of colon cancer. We purified ANC precursors in hot dogs and nitrosated them to produce ANC. In preliminary tests, CF1 mice received 1 or 3 i.p. injections of 5mg azoxymethane (AOM)/kg. In Experiments 1 and 2, female A/J mice received ANC in diet. In Experiment 1, ANC dose initially dropped sharply because the ANC precursors had mostly decomposed but, later in Experiment 1 and throughout Experiment 2, ANC remained at 85 nmol/g diet. Mice were killed after 8 (AOM tests) or 17–34 (ANC tests) wk.Median numbers of aberrant crypts in the distal 2 cm of the colon for 1 and 3 AOMinjections, CF1 controls, ANC (Experiment 1), ANC (Experiment 2),and untreated A/J mice were 31, 74, 12, 20, 12, and 5–6, with P < 0.01 for both ANC tests. Experiment 2 showed somewhat increased numbers of colonic mucin-depleted foci in the ANC-treated group. We conclude that hot-dog-derived ANC induced significant numbers of aberrant crypts in the mouse colon

A structural VAR model of the New Zealand business cycle

This paper develops a new open economy structural VAR model of the New Zealand economy. The model adopts techniques introduced by Cushman and Zha (1997) and Dungey and Pagan (2000) to identify international and domestic shocks and dynamic responses to these shocks in a small open economy. The international variables are block exogenous and the model includes restrictions on contemporaneous and lagged variables. Novel features include the introduction of an expanded set of domestic financial variables not captured in previous New Zealand VAR models, the use of a forward looking Taylor Rule to identify monetary policy, and the introduction of a climate variable to capture the impact of climatic conditions on the business cycle. Key results to emerge are the significant influence of international variables on the New Zealand business cycle, the importance of separately identifying import price and export price shocks, and the significant influence of climate.Open economy; structural VAR models; business cycles; climate; commodity prices; international linkages; financial conditions.