Regional influences on U.S. monetary policy: some implications for Europe

This paper looks at the monetary policy decisions of the U.S. Federal Reserve and asks whether those decisions have been influenced solely by national concerns, or whether regional factors have played a role. All of the Federal Reserve''s policymakers have some regional identity, i.e., either their positions explicitly carry some regional affiliation or their region of origin is a factor that must be considered in the selection process. This research is relevant for the Fed, and it may also be relevant for Europe''s fledgling central bank in Frankfurt. Critics have asserted that ECB policymakers have an incentive to base policy on national developments and respond to national political pressures. We find that Fed policymakers do take into account developments in regional unemployment when deciding monetary policy, and that these regional developments are more important for central bankers at the hub than in the spokes. These findings are robust to a variety of different specifications of the voting equation

Singlet Scalar Resonances and the Diphoton Excess

ATLAS and CMS recently released the first results of searches for diphoton resonances in 13 TeV data, revealing a modest excess at an invariant mass of approximately 750 GeV. We find that it is generically possible that a singlet scalar resonance is the origin of the excess while avoiding all other constraints. We highlight some of the implications of this model and how compatible it is with certain features of the experimental results. In particular, we find that the very large total width of the excess is difficult to explain with loop-level decays alone, pointing to other interesting bounds and signals if this feature of the data persists. Finally we comment on the robust Z-gamma signature that will always accompany the model we investigate

Regional Influences on U.S. Monetary Policy: Some Implications for Europe

This paper looks at the monetary policy decisions of the U.S. Federal Reserve and asks whether those decisions have been influenced solely by national concerns, or whether regional factors have played a role. All of the Federal Reserve's policymakers have some regional identity, i.e., either their positions explicitly carry some regional affiliation or their region of origin is a factor that must be considered in the selection process. This research is relevant for the Fed, and it may also be relevant for Europe's fledgling central bank in Frankfurt. Critics have asserted that ECB policymakers have an incentive to base policy on national developments and respond to national political pressures. We find that Fed policymakers do take into account developments in regional unemployment when deciding monetary policy, and that these regional developments are more important for central bankers at the hub than in the spokes. These findings are robust to a variety of different specifications of the voting equation.monetary policy, central banking

A Free Church for the People : The History of the Spring Street Church and Its Burial Vaults

The Spring Street Church was constructed in the early 19th century to accommodate worshipers in what was then the unsettled area north of the developed portion of New York City. Burial vaults were constructed alongside the church by circa 1820 and were in use for more than 20 years, when changing legislation regarding human burials in Manhattan forced the church to close the vaults. During the period of the vaults’ use, the Spring Street Church members participated in the Abolitionist movement and, as a result of the congregation\u27s promotion of anti-slavery ideologies, the church was demolished by an angry mob during the Anti-Abolition Riots that terrorized New York in the summer of 1834. The church was rebuilt after the riots and would remain active for more than 150 years, despite periods of financial turmoil. However, through the actions of its loyal congregants, the church persevered until 1963, when reduced attendance and increased expenses forced the church to close. The property on which it stood was converted to a parking lot shortly thereafter, covering the burial vaults and those interred within them. This paper reviews the history of the Spring Street Church and discusses the role of both the church and its members in the abolitionist movement of the early 19th century

“Prepare for Death and Follow Me:” An Archaeological Survey of the Historic Period Cemeteries of New York City

It has long been understood by archaeologists that while cemeteries are built by the living to serve the dead, burial grounds can also serve as significant cultural spaces utilized by and integral to the cultural traditions of the living. The study of cemetery sites is therefore critical to the understanding of many aspects of a given culture. Archaeologists often analyze the cemetery sites in a larger region through the lens of a “deathscape,” a macro-scale analytical tool similar to the anthropological concept of a landscape, but which instead focuses on the various cultural processes associated with death: from illness and dying to mortuary behavior, burial, and memorialization. New York City—including the five boroughs of the Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens, and Staten Island—has been a center of commerce since its establishment as a colonial outpost in the 17th century and its urban development has outpaced many other major American cities. The city has been the site of hundreds upon hundreds of burial places, some of which have remained perpetually preserved and others that have been obliterated and redeveloped with or without the removal of the human remains lying within. While previous attempts have been made to document the cemeteries of New York City from historical or genealogical perspectives, to date, a comprehensive archaeological analysis of the city’s cemeteries has not been completed. This study was therefore completed to better understand the use and reuse of burial space in New York City and to identify patterns in how that portion of its deathscape made up of cemeteries was formed, reshaped, and maintained over time leading to the burial landscape seen in the modern city in the present day. Following a period of intensive documentary research, 527 burial sites were identified within New York City as part of this study of the city’s deathscape. Each cemetery was mapped within a Geographic Information System (GIS) and entered into a database and classified according to a series of characteristics (e.g., location, type, dates of use, current status, etc.). This study examines the cemeteries within the data set in order to better understand several critical aspects of the New York City deathscape, including its initial formation within the context of New York City’s historic period occupation, development, and its increasingly stringent municipal regulation of burial space. The burial sites included in the data set were then compared and contrasted to identify the patterns that governed (and continue to govern) the establishment and use of cemeteries in New York City and the patterns that lead to the selective preservation or obliteration of certain cemeteries and/or the relocation of human remains to new burial sites as the deathscape evolved. This analysis concludes that cemetery obliteration and the removal and relocation of remains were heavily influenced by three factors: institutionalized colonial power structures that continued to govern land use and access to space throughout the post-colonial period and into the present; the intensity of urban development and population growth in New York City; and changing connections between kin networks and social groups to specific spaces and places over time. Finally, this study includes a summary of the growth of archaeology as a profession in New York City and a synthesis of historical and modern archaeological investigations in the region that have contributed to archaeologists’ knowledge of the deathscape. The GIS-based maps documenting the past and present locations of burial grounds are intended to be used as sensitivity maps that can be utilized by archaeologists to protect sites known to be sensitive for human remains from disturbance during future development. Despite the large number of burial sites identified during this study, it is likely that many more remain undiscovered, and there is therefore great potential for the continued analysis of the New York City deathscape in the future as new burial sites are identified and documented

Fluctuation and localization of acoustic waves in bubbly water

Here the fluctuation properties of acoustic localization in bubbly water is explored. We show that the strong localization can occur in such a system for a certain frequency range and sufficient filling fractions of air-bubbles. Two fluctuating quantities are considered, that is, the fluctuation of transmission and the fluctuation of the phase of acoustic wave fields. When localization occurs, these fluctuations tend to vanish, a feature able to uniquely identify the phenomenon of wave localization.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figure

Structural properties of laminated Douglas fir/epoxy composite material

This publication contains a compilation of static and fatigue strength data for laminated-wood material made from Douglas fir and epoxy. Results of tests conducted by several organizations are correlated to provide insight into the effects of variables such as moisture, size, lamina-to-lamina joint design, wood veneer grade, and the ratio of cyclic stress to steady stress during fatigue testing. These test data were originally obtained during development of wood rotor blades for large-scale wind turbines of the horizontal-axis (propeller) configuration. Most of the strength property data in this compilation are not found in the published literature. Test sections ranged from round cylinders 2.25 in. in diameter to rectangular slabs 6 by 24 in. in cross section and approximately 30 ft. long. All specimens were made from Douglas fir veneers 0.10 in. thick, bonded together with the WEST epoxy system developed for fabrication and repair of wood boats. Loading was usually parallel to the grain. Size effects (reduction in strength with increase in test volume) are observed in some of the test data, and a simple mathematical model is presented that includes the probability of failure. General characteristics of the wood/epoxy laminate are discussed, including features that make it useful for a wide variety of applications

Efficient CRISPR-rAAV engineering of endogenous genes to study protein function by allele-specific RNAi.

Gene knockout strategies, RNAi and rescue experiments are all employed to study mammalian gene function. However, the disadvantages of these approaches include: loss of function adaptation, reduced viability and gene overexpression that rarely matches endogenous levels. Here, we developed an endogenous gene knockdown/rescue strategy that combines RNAi selectivity with a highly efficient CRISPR directed recombinant Adeno-Associated Virus (rAAV) mediated gene targeting approach to introduce allele-specific mutations plus an allele-selective siRNA Sensitive (siSN) site that allows for studying gene mutations while maintaining endogenous expression and regulation of the gene of interest. CRISPR/Cas9 plus rAAV targeted gene-replacement and introduction of allele-specific RNAi sensitivity mutations in the CDK2 and CDK1 genes resulted in a >85% site-specific recombination of Neo-resistant clones versus ∼8% for rAAV alone. RNAi knockdown of wild type (WT) Cdk2 with siWT in heterozygotic knockin cells resulted in the mutant Cdk2 phenotype cell cycle arrest, whereas allele specific knockdown of mutant CDK2 with siSN resulted in a wild type phenotype. Together, these observations demonstrate the ability of CRISPR plus rAAV to efficiently recombine a genomic locus and tag it with a selective siRNA sequence that allows for allele-selective phenotypic assays of the gene of interest while it remains expressed and regulated under endogenous control mechanisms