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

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

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

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

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

Discovery of Highly Obscured Galaxies in the Zone of Avoidance

We report the discovery of twenty-five previously unknown galaxies in the Zone of Avoidance. Our systematic search for extended extra-galactic sources in the GLIMPSE and MIPSGAL mid-infrared surveys of the Galactic plane has revealed two overdensities of these sources, located around l ~ 47 and 55 degrees and |b| less than 1 degree in the Sagitta-Aquila region. These overdensities are consistent with the local large-scale structure found at similar Galactic longitude and extending from |b| ~ 4 to 40 degrees. We show that the infrared spectral energy distribution of these sources is indeed consistent with those of normal galaxies. Photometric estimates of their redshift indicate that the majority of these galaxies are found in the redshift range z = 0.01 - 0.05, with one source located at z = 0.07. Comparison with known sources in the local Universe reveals that these galaxies are located at similar overdensities in redshift space. These new galaxies are the first evidence of a bridge linking the large-scale structure between both sides of the Galactic plane at very low Galactic latitude and clearly demonstrate the feasibility of detecting galaxies in the Zone of Avoidance using mid-to-far infrared surveys.Comment: Accepted for publication in the Astronomical Journal, 28 pages, 5 tables, 11 figure

Pseudomoduli Dark Matter

We point out that pseudomoduli -- tree-level flat directions that often accompany dynamical supersymmetry breaking -- can be natural candidates for TeV-scale dark matter in models of gauge mediation. The idea is general and can be applied to different dark matter scenarios, including (but not limited to) those of potential relevance to recent cosmic ray anomalies. We describe the requirements for a viable model of pseudomoduli dark matter, and we analyze two example models to illustrate the general mechanism -- one where the pseudomoduli carry Higgsino-like quantum numbers, and another where they are SM singlets but are charged under a hidden-sector $U(1)'$ gauge group.Comment: 20 pages, refs adde

A Mixed Phase of SUSY Gauge Theories from a-Maximization

We study N=1 supersymmetric SU(N) gauge theories with an antisymmetric tensor and F flavors using the recent proposal of a-maximization by Intriligator and Wecht. This theory had previously been studied using the method of "deconfinement", but such an analysis was not conclusive since anomalous dimensions in the non-perturbative regime could not be calculated. Using a-maximization we show that for a large range of F the theory is at an interacting superconformal fixed point. However, we also find evidence that for a range of F the theory in the IR splits into a free "magnetic" gauge sector and an interacting superconformal sector.Comment: 18 pages, 3 figure