5,070 research outputs found
Historical reasons for the focus on broad monetary aggregates in post-World War II Britain and the âSeven Years Warâ with the IMF
The British monetary authorities have traditionally focused on broader monetary aggregates than their counterparts elsewhere. The reasons include: the willingness of UK banks to allow customers to make payments by drawing on time deposits, the particularities of the UK approach to managing the national debt and the foreign exchange reserves, and the flow-of-funds system of national accounts developed after World War II. This article outlines these reasons, and explores the implications for the UK's often fractious relationship with the International Monetary Fund during the 1950s and 1960s. It explains why IMF conditionality on loans to the UK focused on broad aggregates
Sorghum: An Underutilized Cereal Whole Grain with the Potential to Assist in the Prevention of Chronic Disease
Sorghum is an important cereal grain food, grown globally, that is rich in nutrients, dietary fiber, and bioactive components yet is considered of low value to humans and often used as an animal feed. This review provides an overview of key sorghum grain components, including starches, dietary fiber, protein, lipids, and phytochemicals, with functional properties that have potential to impact on health. Though acknowledging the impact of the whole food will reflect the synergy between the components, studies of these components implicate effects on energy balance, glycemic control, lipids, gut microbiota, and cell-mediated immune responses, including antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects. For these to be confirmed as contributory effects from sorghum consumption, evidence from quality randomized controlled trials is required. If proven effective, there may be a role for sorghum grainâbased diets to assist in the prevention of chronic diseases such as diabetes, obesity, and heart disease. Future research addressing effects of sorghum consumption may help drive a paradigm shift from sorghum as a low value food to a potentially health-promoting, highly valued human grain food
Competitive market for multiple firms and economic crisis
The origin of economic crises is a key problem for economics. We present a
model of long-run competitive markets to show that the multiplicity of
behaviors in an economic system, over a long time scale, emerge as statistical
regularities (perfectly competitive markets obey Bose-Einstein statistics and
purely monopolistic-competitive markets obey Boltzmann statistics) and that how
interaction among firms influences the evolutionary of competitive markets. It
has been widely accepted that perfect competition is most efficient. Our study
shows that the perfectly competitive system, as an extreme case of competitive
markets, is most efficient but not stable, and gives rise to economic crises as
society reaches full employment. In the economic crisis revealed by our model,
many firms condense (collapse) into the lowest supply level (zero supply,
namely bankruptcy status), in analogy to Bose-Einstein condensation. This
curious phenomenon arises because perfect competition (homogeneous
competitions) equals symmetric (indistinguishable) investment direction, a fact
abhorred by nature. Therefore, we urge the promotion of monopolistic
competition (heterogeneous competitions) rather than perfect competition. To
provide early warning of economic crises, we introduce a resolving index of
investment, which approaches zero in the run-up to an economic crisis. On the
other hand, our model discloses, as a profound conclusion, that the
technological level for a long-run social or economic system is proportional to
the freedom (disorder) of this system; in other words, technology equals the
entropy of system. As an application of this new concept, we give a possible
answer to the Needham question: "Why was it that despite the immense
achievements of traditional China it had been in Europe and not in China that
the scientific and industrial revolutions occurred?"Comment: 17 pages; 3 figure
Analytic structure of the S-matrix for singular quantum mechanics
The analytic structure of the S-matrix of singular quantum mechanics is examined within a multichannel framework, with primary focus on its dependence with respect to a parameter (Ω) that determines the boundary conditions. Specifically, a characterization is given in terms of salient mathematical and physical properties governing its behavior. These properties involve unitarity and associated current-conserving Wronskian relations, time-reversal invariance, and Blaschke factorization. The approach leads to an interpretation of effective nonunitary solutions in singular quantum mechanics and their determination from the unitary family.Fil: Camblong, Horacio E.. University of San Francisco; Estados UnidosFil: Epele, Luis Nicolas. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones CientĂficas y TĂ©cnicas. Centro CientĂfico TecnolĂłgico Conicet - La Plata. Instituto de FĂsica La Plata. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas. Instituto de FĂsica La Plata; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas. Departamento de FĂsica. Laboratorio de FĂsica TeĂłrica; ArgentinaFil: Fanchiotti, Huner. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones CientĂficas y TĂ©cnicas. Centro CientĂfico TecnolĂłgico Conicet - La Plata. Instituto de FĂsica La Plata. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas. Instituto de FĂsica La Plata; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas. Departamento de FĂsica. Laboratorio de FĂsica TeĂłrica; ArgentinaFil: GarcĂa Canal, Carlos Alberto. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones CientĂficas y TĂ©cnicas. Centro CientĂfico TecnolĂłgico Conicet - La Plata. Instituto de FĂsica La Plata. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas. Instituto de FĂsica La Plata; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas. Departamento de FĂsica. Laboratorio de FĂsica TeĂłrica; Argentin
Systemdynamische Betrachtungen zur Sturzdynamik und -prophylaxe: Entwicklung eines deterministischen Modells
Zusammenfassung: Hintergrund: StĂŒrze Ă€lterer Personen ist derzeit eine groĂe Public-Health-Herausforderung. Da Instrumente zur Erkennung sturzgefĂ€hrdeter Personen wenig genaue Vorhersagen machen, wurde ein deterministisches systemdynamisches Modell der Sturzdynamik entwickelt. Methoden: Unter Verwendung bekannter Sturzrisikofaktoren, quantitativer Forschungsergebnisse und AbschĂ€tzungen, Ursachen- und Wirkbeziehungen wurde ein deterministisches Modell simuliert. Ergebnisse: Grundvoraussetzungen fĂŒr StĂŒrze sind Bewegung oder Bewegungsabsichten ("MobilitĂ€t im Alltag"), ein Sturzrisiko und ein Ungleichgewicht zwischen Gehanforderungen und GehfĂ€higkeit. Kraft, Koordination und Gleichgewicht wurden als SpeichergröĂen definiert und Ursache-Wirkungs-ZusammenhĂ€nge ins Modell integriert. Zahlreiche andere bekannte Sturzrisikofaktoren wurden ins Modell aufgenommen und quantifiziert. Die Simulation einer Fixierung zeigte, dass die Sturzwahrscheinlichkeit unmittelbar nach der Fixierung erhöht ist. Das Modell zeigt in der Simulation systemdynamische Aspekte wie Verzögerung, RĂŒckkoppelung und Nicht-LinearitĂ€t. Schlussfolgerung: Mit Hilfe der Systemdynamik konnte ein deterministisches systemdynamisches Modell der Sturzdynamik und -prophylaxe fĂŒr eine Pflegeheimpopulation unter Einbeziehung bekannter Sturzrisikofaktoren entwickelt werden, das von Praktikern als plausibel beurteilt wird und das "richtungssicher" reagier
Inductive learning spatial attention
This paper investigates the automatic induction of spatial attention
from the visual observation of objects manipulated
on a table top. In this work, space is represented in terms of
a novel observer-object relative reference system, named Local
Cardinal System, defined upon the local neighbourhood
of objects on the table. We present results of applying the
proposed methodology on five distinct scenarios involving
the construction of spatial patterns of coloured blocks
Timing of Formation of a Wassonite-bearing Chondrule
Wassonite, ideally stoichiometric TiS, is a titanium monosulfide recently discovered in the Yamato 691 EH3 enstatite chondrite. Wassonite grains were located within the mesostasis of a single barred olivine chondrule. Such chondrules likely formed in the solar nebula by melting of fine grained precursor dust. The reduced nature of enstatite chondrites, and the wassonite-bearing chondrule in particular, may suggest precursor materials included Ti-bearing troilite, metallic Fe-Ni, and possibly graphite. Under the reducing conditions present in enstatite chondrites S can partition more readily into silicate melt, leading to raised Ti content of the residual Fe-FeS melt. By the time sulfide crystallized from the melt, the Ti concentration was high enough to form small grains of pure TiS - wassonite. As a mineral not previously observed in nature wassonite and its host chondrule may provide additional constraints on physical and chemical conditions in the solar nebula at a specific time and location relevant to planetary formation. Enstatite chondrites and Earth share similar isotopic compositions of Cr, Ni, Ti, O and N. Understanding the formation conditions of enstatite chondrite chondrules may therefore have wider relevance for terrestrial planet accretion and other early inner solar system processes. Here we present preliminary results of an investigation of the Al-Mg systematics of the only known wassonite-bearing chondrule. The goal of this study is to determine whether this chondrule's formation was contemporaneous with other enstatite chondrite chondrules and to establish its place in the broader timeline of solar system events
Artemis Curation: Preparing for Sample Return from the Lunar South Pole
Space Policy Directive-1 mandates that the United States will lead the return of humans to the Moon for long-term exploration and utilization, followed by human missions to Mars and other destinations. In addition, the Vice President stated that It is the stated policy of this administration and the United States of America to return American astronauts to the Moon within the next five years, that is, by 2024. These efforts, under the umbrella of the recently formed Artemis Program, include such historic goals as the flight of the first woman to the Moon and the exploration of the lunar south-polar region. Among the top priorities of the Artemis Program is the return of a suite of geologic samples, providing new and significant opportunities for progressing lunar science and human exploration. In particular, successful sample return is necessary for understanding the history of volatiles in the Solar System and the evolution of the Earth-Moon system, fully constraining the hazards of the lunar polar environment for astronauts, and providing the necessary data for constraining the abundance and distribution of resources for in-situ resource utilization (ISRU). Here we summarize the ef-forts of the Astromaterials Acquisition and Curation Office (hereafter referred to as the Curation Office) to ensure the success of Artemis sample return (per NASA Policy Directive (NPD) 7100.10E)
Local light-ray rotation
We present a sheet structure that rotates the local ray direction through an
arbitrary angle around the sheet normal. The sheet structure consists of two
parallel Dove-prism sheets, each of which flips one component of the local
direction of transmitted light rays. Together, the two sheets rotate
transmitted light rays around the sheet normal. We show that the direction
under which a point light source is seen is given by a Mobius transform. We
illustrate some of the properties with movies calculated by ray-tracing
software.Comment: 9 pages, 6 figure
Emergence of Ixodes scapularis and Borrelia burgdorferi, the Lyme disease vector and agent, in Ohio
Lyme disease, the most common vector-borne disease in the United States, is caused by a tick-borne infection with Borrelia burgdorferi. Currently, Ohio is considered by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to be non-endemic for Lyme disease. The low incidence of Lyme disease in this state was largely attributed to the absence of the transmitting vector, Ixodes scapularis, commonly known as the blacklegged tick. However, a tick surveillance program established by Ohio Department of Health indicated that the number of I. scapularis ticks in Ohio had increased sharply in recent years, from 0 - 5 ticks per year during 1983 - 2008 to 15 in 2009, 40 in 2010, and 184 in 2011. During the fall deer hunting season, examination of deer heads submitted to Ohio Department of Agriculture found 29 I. scapularis from 7 counties in 2010 and 1,830 from 25 counties in 2011. As of 2012, the tick had been found in 57 of the 88 counties of Ohio. In addition, all three active stages (larva, nymph, and adult) of I. scapularis were found in Tiverton Township of Coshocton County, demonstrating the presence of established tick populations at this central Ohio location. Of 530 nymphal or adult I. scapularis analyzed by quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR), 32 (6.1%) tested positive for the B. burgdorferi flaB gene, ranging from 36 to 390,000 copies per tick. Antibodies to B. burgdorferi antigens were detected in 2 of 10 (20%) field-captured Peromyscus leucopus from Tiverton Township, and in 41 of 355 (11.5%) dogs residing in Ohio. Collectively, these data suggest that the enzootic life cycle of B. burgdorferi has become established in Ohio, which poses risk of Lyme disease to people and animals in the area
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