The transmission of monetary policy impulses in Belgium

The first part of this article outlines the monetary policy transmission process. It pinpoints some special features of the Belgian economy, such as its high degree of openness, especially in relation to euro area partners, the high level of household financial assets, relatively weak dependence on bank lending at macroeconomic level, and the automatic indexation of wages. The macroeconomic simulations presented in the second part of the article show that, in Belgium as in the euro area, a monetary policy tightening tends to cause a temporary contraction in activity, due substantially to the decline in investment, and a slower but more persistent fall in prices. The euro appreciation normally caused by such a monetary policy shock amplifies its effects on activity, but above all accelerates its impact on prices. The reaction of the Belgian economy does not appear to be obviously different from that of the rest of the euro area. It seems to be slightly more moderate in volume, owing to the lower sensitivity of investment, and more rapid in terms of prices.

Share prices, house prices and monetary policy

Recent developments in stock and house prices revived the debate on the role of asset prices in the conduct of monetary policy. The article first explores the links between asset price fluctuations, macroeconomic developments and monetary policy, highlighting the possibility of asset price booms and bursts in an environment of stable consumer prices and the challenges for monetary policy. The problem of identification of “bubbles” is then illustrated by an assessment of recent developments in stock prices in the United States and the euro area and in house prices in the euro area, with special attention for the fast-increasing house prices in some countries and for the Belgian situation. Finally, the article briefly explains how asset prices are taken into account in the monetary policy strategy of the Eurosystem.monetary policy, transmission process, stock prices, residential property prices, Eurosystem

An online database for plant image analysis software tools

peer reviewe

Erik Lindegren et le débat de l’(in)intelligibilité de la poésie

Lindegren et son recueil de poèmes « L’homme sans voie » se situe au centre du débat suédois des années quarante sur la conscience esthétique, le style littéraire et le langage poétique. Ce débat parallèle à celui du pessimisme littéraire de l’époque atteint son intensité maximale en 1946. Une série d’articles à caractère polémique de la revue 40-tal traitent de la notion de style en général ainsi que de la nature et de la fonction du symbole poétique en particulier. On s’interroge sur la valeur cognitive de l’œuvre littéraire et sur la pertinence d’une poésie dont le langage est essentiellement centré sur lui-même. Plusieurs articles traitent de la crise des symboles.Dans ce débat, Erik Lindegren joue le triple rôle de cible, de bouclier et de fer de lance. Il intervient notamment par un commentaire de son propre recueil dans l’enquête de BLM sur la poésie moderniste pour répondre au reproche ď inintelligibilité que lui adresse la critique traditionnelle. Il développe une conception de la poésie basée sur le rôle central de l’image, la polysémie du symbole et la participation active du lecteur à l’interprétation de l’œuvre.L’analyse de la technique poétique de Lindegren dans « L’homme sans voie » met en évidence le caractère métonymique très marqué des images. Le poète fait largement appel aux significations connotées du mot au détriment de sa valeur dénotative, sans pourtant réduire son art à une mécanique rhétorique qui perdrait toute fonction référentielle.Erik Lindegren und sein Gedichtband « Der Mann ohne Weg » nehmen eine zentrale Stellung in der schwedischen Diskussion der vierziger Jahre über ästhetisches Bewußtsein, literarischen Stil und poetische Sprache ein. Diese Diskussion, die gleichzeitig mit der Debatte über den literarischen Pessimismus stattfindet, erreicht 1946 ihren Höhepunkt. In der Zeitschrift 40-tal erscheinen eine Reihe polemischer Artikel, in denen der Begriff des Stils im allgemeinen und die Natur und Funktion des dichterischen Symbols im besonderen besprochen werden. Dabei wird die Frage nach dem erkenntnistheoretischen Wert des literarischen Werkes sowie nach der Relevanz einer Dichtung, deren Sprache im Wesentlichen auf sich selber bezogen ist, gestellt. Mehrere Artikel handeln von der Symbolkrise.In dieser Debatte fällt Erik Lindegren eine dreifache Rolle zu : er ist Zielscheibe, Verteidiger und Speerspitze zugleich. In einem seiner Beiträge, einem Kommentar zu seinem eigenen Gedichtgband, den die Zeitschrift BLM im Rahmen ihrer Untersuchung über modernistische Poesie veröffentlicht, weist er unter anderem den von der traditionellen Kritik erhobenen Vorwurf der Unverständlichkeit zurück. Hier entwickelt er eine Auffassung der Poesie, die auf die zentrale Rolle des Bildes, auf die Vieldeutigkeit des Symbols und auf die freie Assoziation des Lesers beruht.Aus der Analyse der Dichtungstechnik, die Lindegren in « Der Mann ohne Weg » anwendet, geht der ausgeprägte metonymische Charakter der Bilder hervor. Der Dichter verweist in großem Maße auf die konnotative Bedeutung des Wortes auf Kosten des denotativen Wertes, ohne allerdings dadurch seine Kunst zur mechanischen Rhetorik zu reduzieren, die jeglicher Hinweisfunktion entbehrt

Reflections on the triptych of meristems that build flowering branches in tomato

peer reviewedBranching is an important component determining crop yield. In tomato, the sympodial pattern of shoot and inflorescence branching is initiated at floral transition and involves the precise regulation of three very close meristems: i) the shoot apical meristem (SAM) that undergoes the first transition to flower meristem (FM) fate, ii) the inflorescence sympodial meristem (SIM) that emerges on its flank and remains transiently indeterminate to continue flower initiation, and iii) the shoot sympodial meristem (SYM), which is initiated at the axil of the youngest leaf primordium and takes over shoot growth before forming itself the next inflorescence. The proper fate of each type of meristems involves the spatiotemporal regulation of FM genes, since they all eventually terminate in a flower, but also the transient repression of other fates since conversions are observed in different mutants. In this paper, we summarize the current knowledge about the genetic determinants of meristem fate in tomato and share the reflections that led us to identify sepal and flower abscission zone initiation as a critical stage of FM development that affects the branching of the inflorescence

A novel high efficiency, low maintenance, hydroponic system for synchronous growth and flowering of Arabidopsis thaliana

BACKGROUND: Arabidopsis thaliana is now the model organism for genetic and molecular plant studies, but growing conditions may still impair the significance and reproducibility of the experimental strategies developed. Besides the use of phytotronic cabinets, controlling plant nutrition may be critical and could be achieved in hydroponics. The availability of such a system would also greatly facilitate studies dealing with root development. However, because of its small size and rosette growth habit, Arabidopsis is hardly grown in standard hydroponic devices and the systems described in the last years are still difficult to transpose at a large scale. Our aim was to design and optimize an up-scalable device that would be adaptable to any experimental conditions. RESULTS: An hydroponic system was designed for Arabidopsis, which is based on two units: a seed-holder and a 1-L tank with its cover. The original agar-containing seed-holder allows the plants to grow from sowing to seed set, without transplanting step and with minimal waste. The optimum nitrate supply was determined for vegetative growth, and the flowering response to photoperiod and vernalization was characterized to show the feasibility and reproducibility of experiments extending over the whole life cycle. How this equipment allowed to overcome experimental problems is illustrated by the analysis of developmental effects of nitrate reductase deficiency in nia1nia2 mutants. CONCLUSION: The hydroponic device described in this paper allows to drive small and large scale cultures of homogeneously growing Arabidopsis plants. Its major advantages are its flexibility, easy handling, fast maintenance and low cost. It should be suitable for many experimental purposes

Històries de por (i III)

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