From those lying facts to the underlying deficit

Developments in the headline budget balance are distorted by temporary factors. The most significant of these factors are the business cycle and creative accounting. Adequate information and estimates are available, allowing us to filter out these factors using a so-called adjustment for self-reversal. Expenditures and revenues adjusted in this way, however, continue to fluctuate, as fiscal policy measures can, in part, also turn out to be temporary in retrospect. We filter out this effect by using a four-year moving average (covering a full election cycle), instead of taking individual pieces of information into account. Moving averages are calculated in a forward-looking manner, for the three subsequent years in addition to the current year. This allows temporary effects in the past to be captured and renders their identification easier over the forecast horizon. Based on our results, the deficit indicators obtained using the adjustment for self-reversal and the adjustment for policy reversal are similar; the latter method, however, yields a higher deficit for the period 2010–2012, due to the tax cuts (phasing out of temporary taxes) announced for 2013. Overall, however, both adjusted indicators deviate substantially from the headline indicator, highlighting the significance of the adjustment.structural deficit, underlying deficit, cyclical adjustment, temporary measures, creative accounting

Role of Thalamic Projection in NMDA Receptor-Induced Disruption of Cortical Slow Oscillation and Short-Term Plasticity

NMDA receptor (NMDAR) antagonists, such as phencyclidine, ketamine, or dizocilpine (MK-801) are commonly used in psychiatric drug discovery in order to model several symptoms of schizophrenia, including psychosis and impairments in working memory. In spite of the widespread use of NMDAR antagonists in preclinical and clinical studies, our understanding of the mode of action of these drugs on brain circuits and neuronal networks is still limited. In the present study spontaneous local field potential (LFP), multi- (MUA) and single-unit activity, and evoked potential, including paired-pulse facilitation (PPF) in response to electrical stimulation of the ipsilateral subiculum were carried out in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) in urethane anesthetized rats. Systemic administration of MK-801 (0.05 mg/kg, i.v.) decreased overall MUA, with a diverse effect on single-unit activity, including increased, decreased, or unchanged firing, and in line with our previous findings shifted delta-frequency power of the LFP and disrupted PPF (Kiss et al., 2011). In order to provide further insight to the mechanisms of action of NMDAR antagonists, MK-801 was administered intracranially into the mPFC and mediodorsal nucleus of the thalamus (MD). Microinjections of MK-801, but not physiological saline, localized into the MD evoked changes in both LFP parameters and PPF similar to the effects of systemically administered MK-801. Local microinjection of MK-801 into the mPFC was without effect on these parameters. Our findings indicate that the primary site of the action of systemic administration of NMDAR antagonists is unlikely to be the cortex. We presume that multiple neuronal networks, involving thalamic nuclei contribute to disrupted behavior and cognition following NMDAR blockade

Developmentally regulated autophagy is required for eye formation in Drosophila

The compound eye of the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster is one of the most intensively studied and best understood model organs in the field of developmental genetics. Herein we demonstrate that autophagy, an evolutionarily conserved selfdegradation process of eukaryotic cells, is essential for eye development in this organism. Autophagic structures accumulate in a specific pattern in the developing eye disc, predominantly in the morphogenetic furrow (MF) and differentiation zone. Silencing of several autophagy genes (Atg) in the eye primordium severely affects the morphology of the adult eye through triggering ectopic cell death. In Atg mutant genetic backgrounds however genetic compensatory mechanisms largely rescue autophagic activity in, and thereby normal morphogenesis of, this organ. We also show that in the eye disc the expression of a key autophagy gene, Atg8a, is controlled in a complex manner by the anterior Hox paralog lab (labial), a master regulator of early development. Atg8a transcription is repressed in front of, while activated along, the MF by lab. The amount of autophagic structures then remains elevated behind the moving MF. These results indicate that eye development in Drosophila depends on the cell death-suppressing and differentiating effects of the autophagic process. This novel, developmentally regulated function of autophagy in the morphogenesis of the compound eye may shed light on a more fundamental role for cellular self-digestion in differentiation and organ formation than previously thought

Reduction of External Vulnerability with Monetary Policy Tools – Renewal of the monetary policy instruments of the National Bank of Hungary (2014–2016)

The outbreak of the economic crisis in 2007–2008 changed the views about economic policy worldwide, in particular, the role, tasks and responsibility of monetary policy. Hungary was hit by the crisis in a particularly vulnerable state; therefore the aim of reducing external vulnerability was a central element of the transformation of economic policy. The Self-Financing Programme an-nounced in 2014 by the National Bank of Hungary (MNB) served this particular objective by facilitating the reform of the central bank toolkit – in accordance with the authorisation received and the provisions set out in the MNB Act – the strengthening of financial stabil-ity and the reduction of external vulnerability. This study presents the transformation of the central bank toolkit and the benefits of the different measures, using the Mandl–Dierx–Ilzkovitz conceptual model. The conclusion drawn from the analysis is that the programme proved efficient in the technical and operative sense: indeed, starting from the spring of 2014, the debt management agency refinanced foreign currency debts borrowed from the market with forint issues, while banks’ portfolio of collateral securities increased and the cen-tral bank’s sterilisation portfolio diminished. The programme achieved its macroeconomic goals as well, as the foreign currency ratio of external funding and public debt has decreased and monetary conditions have eased, while the monetary transmission remained intact. In accordance with the announced actions of the MNB and the effective financing plan, self-financing will continue in 2016 as well

Regulation of Septo-Hippocampal Activity by 5-Hydroxytryptamine 2C Receptors

ABSTRACT It is established that the serotonin system modulates hippocampal functions by regulating neuronal activity of both the medial septum and hippocampus. Inhibition of serotonin neurons leads to theta oscillation of septal neurons and theta wave activity in the hippocampus, indicating a tonic regulation of the septo-hippocampal system by serotonin neurons. Because the postsynaptic 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) receptor subtypes mediating this tonic inhibition have not been identified, a putative role of 5-HT 2C receptors has been evaluated in the present study. Extracellular single units were recorded from the medial septum/vertical limb of diagonal band (MS/DBv) and hippocampal CA1 or dentate gyrus with simultaneous hippocampal EEG recordings from anesthetized rats. Intravenous administration of 5-HT 2C receptor agonists 1-(3-chlorophenyl)piperazine dihydrochloride (m-CPP) and [S]-2-(chloro-5-fluoro-indol-1-yl)-1-methyl-ethylamine fumarate (Ro 60-0175) dose dependently inhibited firing activity most of the recorded MS/DBv neurons and abolished theta oscillation in all tested MS/DBv and hippocampal neurons. Parallel to inhibition of theta oscillation of MS/DBv neurons, hippocampal EEG activity was desynchronized and its power spectrum was shifted to lower frequencies. The selective 5-HT 2C receptor antagonist 6-chloro- reversed the action of 5-HT 2C receptor agonists. Furthermore, in control rats 5-HT 2C receptor antagonists [SB-242084 and 5-methyl-1-(3-pyridilcarbamoyl)-1,2,3,5-tetrahydropyr-rolo[2,3-f]indole hydrochloride (SB-206553)] induced or enhanced theta oscillation in MS/DBv and hippocampal neurons and theta wave activity of the hippocampus. These findings provide evidence for a tonic regulation of the activity and theta oscillation of the septo-hippocampal system via 5-HT 2C receptors in the anesthetized rat, indicating that pharmacological interactions with these receptors could modulate various physiological and pathological processes associated with limbic theta activity. Hippocampal theta rhythm is thought to be associated with orienting exploratory behavior and to have a major role in sensory filtering and memory processes It has been demonstrated that activity of the septo-hippocampal system is under a tonic 5-HT regulation (Vertes and Kocsis, 1997). The medial septum and diagonal band receives dense 5-HT innervation from the median raphe nucleus and 5-HT-containing axons form perisomatic and peridendritic baskets and asymmetric synaptic contacts on parvalbumin GABAergic neuron