Present and Future Fiscal Policy Problems in the Czech Republic

This paper is focused . using the example of the Czech Republic since 1993 . on a description of the hidden risks, implicitly existing in the system of public finances during the transition period (from a centrally planned towards market economy). The starting assumption is that public budgets have in time of economic transition certain specific functions. These consist explicitly in supporting the transitional process by transferring part of the economic and social costs, attached to it, over time and various categories of population. These functions are to be carried out at time, when the economic performance of those countries tends to be rather poor and the revenue side of the budgets is not buoyant. Since the financial capacity of the budget is restraint, governments try to find ways by which transition functions could be carried out while their financing would not take the form of instant cash outlays. Evidence of the Czech Republic suggests that measures, conceived to meet the expectations attached to the budget in respect to part of the transitional costs, though conceived originally as temporary, tend over time to become of a permanent nature. Issues such as a risk of moral hazard then occur. The analysis also points to the fact that these sorts of phenomena may not be the only factor that contributed to the deterioration of the Czech public finance in recent years. The evidence of fiscal developments in quite a number of transitional economies suggests that elements of these features tend to exist in most of those countries.Fiscal Policy, Czech Republic

Fiscal Policy in the Czech Republic under Transition

The paper provides an analyses of the economic changes which occurred in the Czech Republic under transition. After providing an economic history of the transition period, the paper describes first the developments in the public finance sector (e.g.: public budget operations developments, public debt) and then moves to the structural, institutional and systemic changes (e.g.: privatization process, transformation of the banking system).Czech Republic, Economic Transition, Privatization, Banking System, Macroeconomic Developments

Liquid-Phase Synthesis of Nickel Nanoparticles stabilized by PVP and study of their structural and magnetic properties

We have synthesized nickel nanoparticles using nickel chloride as a precursor in ethanol using PVP (Poly Vinyl Pyrrolidone) as a surfactant and hydrazine hydrate as reducing agent at 60 °C in a facile manner. The structural analysis showed that particles are face-centered cubic and monodisperse within the PVP matrix with average size about 3 nm. The magnetic analysis shows the superparamagnetism of the single-domain nickel nanoparticles with the blocking temperature (Tb) exists around 14 K with clear hysteretic effect observation below this blocking temperature

Thermoresponsive properties of polyacrylamides in physiological solutions

Polymer solutions with a lower critical solution temperature (LCST) undergo reversible phase separation when heated above their cloud point temperature (T-CP or CPT). As such, they have been proposed for a wide range of biomedical applications, from injectable drug depots to switchable coatings for cell adhesion. However, in systematic studies, the T-CP of these thermoresponsive polymers has been mostly measured in non-physiological solutions, thereby hindering the development of their medicinal applications. Here, we analysed the thermoresponsive properties of four acrylamide-based polymers with LCST, namely poly[(N-2,2-difluoroethyl)acrylamide] (pDFEA), poly[(N-isopropyl)acrylamide] (pNIPAM), poly[(N,N-diethyl)acrylamide] (pDEA), and poly[(N-acryloyl)pyrrolidine] (pAP). As shown by turbidimetty, their T-CP in phosphate saline buffer (PBS) and foetal bovine serum (FBS) were consistently lower than those reported in the literature, typically assessed in pure water, even when using the same setup. in addition, these physiological solutions affected the variation of T-CP as a function of polymer concentration (1.25 to 10.0 mg mL(-)(1)) and molar mass (20 to 50 kg mol(-1)). As shown by isothermal calorimetry, interactions between proteins in FBS and polymer aggregates were predominantly exothermic, which indicates that protein polymer complexes are formed through enthalpically driven processes. in conclusion, the T-CP of thermoresponsive polymers strongly depends on solvent composition and therefore should be measured under physiological conditions for future medicinal applications

Pharmacokinetics of intramuscularly administered thermoresponsive polymers

Aqueous solutions of some polymers exhibit a lower critical solution temperature (LCST); that is, they form phase-separated aggregates when heated above a threshold temperature. Such polymers found many promising (bio)medical applications, including in situ thermogelling with controlled drug release, polymer-supported radiotherapy (brachytherapy), immunotherapy, and wound dressing, among others. Yet, despite the extensive research on medicinal applications of thermoresponsive polymers, their biodistribution and fate after administration remained unknown. Thus, herein, they studied the pharmacokinetics of four different thermoresponsive polyacrylamides after intramuscular administration in mice. In vivo, these thermoresponsive polymers formed depots that subsequently dissolved with a two-phase kinetics (depot maturation, slow redissolution) with half-lives 2 weeks to 5 months, as depot vitrification prolonged their half-lives. Additionally, the decrease of T-CP of a polymer solution increased the density of the intramuscular depot. Moreover, they detected secondary polymer depots in the kidneys and liver; these secondary depots also followed two-phase kinetics (depot maturation and slow dissolution), with half-lives 8 to 38 days (kidneys) and 15 to 22 days (liver). Overall, these findings may be used to tailor the properties of thermoresponsive polymers to meet the demands of their medicinal applications. Their methods may become a benchmark for future studies of polymer biodistribution

Description of the COST - HOME monthly benchmark dataset and the submitted homogenized contributions

As part of the COST Action HOME a dataset has been generated that will serve as a benchmark for homogenisation algorithms. Members of the Action and third parties have been invited and are still welcome to homogenise this dataset. The results of this exercise was analysed to obtain recommendations for a standard homogenisation procedure and are described in Venema et al. (Climate of the Past, 2012). Chapter two discusses the generation of this benchmark dataset, the climate variables considered, which types of data are in the benchmark dataset, how they have been produced, the ways to introduce artificial inhomogeneities, and the additional specifications such as length, missing data and trends. This chapter is an updated version of a report (Venema et al., 2009), which was available to the participants. A draft for the properties of the benchmark was developed at a Working Group meeting and was approved by the Management Committee of the Cost Action. The homogenized data that was returned by the participant is described in Chapter 3. In total 25 contributions have been returned before the deadline at which the truth was revealed. Multiple late contributions, submitted after the deadline, are also described. The descriptions of the contributions were written by the respective participants