The economics of debt clearing mechanisms

We examine the evolution of decentralized clearinghouse mechanisms from the 13th to the 18th century; in particular, we explore the clearing of non- or limitedtradable debts like bills of exchange. We construct a theoretical model of these clearinghouse mechanisms, similar to the models in the theoretical matching literature, and show that specific decentralized multilateral clearing algorithms known as rescontre, skontrieren or virement des parties used by merchants were efficient in specific historical contexts. We can explain both the evolutionary self-organizing emergence of late medieval and early modern fairs, and its robustness during the 17th and 18th century

Gait Analysis and Spinal Rotation '12

Understanding how the muscles and forces during the gait cycle are affected when different running techniques are used. This study looks to find a correlation between the effects of spinal rotation and the impact forces on the feet and knees while jogging. For a group of 40 runners, two force transducers were placed in the right insole of their shoe to measure the vertical forces upon landing during heel strike and a spinal rotation device was placed on their backs to measure spinal rotation. The forces were correlated to amount of spinal rotation during a jog with normal form, an exaggerated spinal rotation and a restricted spinal rotation. The results showed there was no correlation to the reduction of force as a direct result of increased or decreased spinal rotation