Irving Fisher, the Debt-Deflation Theory, and the Crisis of 2008-2009

Irving Fisher’s 1932 Booms and Depressions presents a fully specified, nine-pronged model of financial crises that has been widely forgotten by modern macroeconomists. This article builds on the renewed interest in Fisher’s Debt-Deflation Theory to explore its pertinence to the Great Recession. By parsing through macroeconomic data from the 2000s, it finds evidence of debt-deflation spiraling and of the nine Fisherian “main factors” co-varying as the author had predicted during the 2008-2009 financial crisis. The article concludes in assessing the uses of Fisher’s work in current macroeconomics and in arguing for a greater consideration of its insights

pFAR plasmids: New Eukaryotic Expression Vectors for Gene Therapy, devoid of Antibiotic Resistance Markers

Efficient production of eukaryotic expression vectors requires the selection of plasmid-containing bacteria. To avoid the risk of dissemination of antibiotic resistance markers, we developed a new system to produce a family of plasmids Free of Antibiotic Resistance genes, called pFARs. The strategy is based on the suppression of a chromosomal nonsense mutation by a plasmid-borne function. The amber mutation was introduced into the Escherichia coli thyA gene that encodes a thymidylate synthase required for dTMP synthesis, resulting in thymidine auxotrophy. In parallel, a small plasmid vector that carries an amber suppressor t-RNA gene was entirely synthesised. The introduction of pFAR plasmids into an optimised thyA mutant restored normal growth to the auxotrophic strain, and led to an efficient production of monomeric supercoiled plasmids, as required for clinical trials. Luciferase activities measured after intramuscular injection and electrotransfer of LUC-encoding pFAR vector were similar to those obtained with a commercial vector containing the same expression cassette. Interestingly, whereas luciferase activities decreased within three weeks after intradermal electrotransfer of conventional expression vectors, sustained levels were observed with the pFAR derivative. Thus, pFAR plasmids represent a novel family of biosafe eukaryotic expression vectors, suitable for gene therapy

Les revues britanniques d’histoire de l’art

Contrairement à la France où l’accès aux métiers de l’histoire de l’art passe par des institutions et des concours différents, les chercheurs, enseignants et conservateurs du Royaume-Uni reçoivent leur formation au sein du même système universitaire. Ces liens entre le monde académique et celui des musées se matérialisent par de fréquentes interactions et collaborations dont les périodiques sont un des multiples échos. Il en résulte une histoire de l’art proche de l’objet et du document et so..

“Linking Venus”. New Technologies of Memory and the Reconfiguration of Space at the Warburg Library.

The Hamburg art historian Aby Warburg (1866- 1929) anticipated what, in network science, we would call today the practice and mapping of complex patterns of information. Both his Library and his last project Mnemosyne were conceived as experiences of conceptual and emotional rhizomatic connection. In our days, his idea of Kulturwissensschaft presents a number of “elective affinities” with the concepts of “transdisciplinarity” (Nicolescu 2002), “convergence” (Jenkins 2006) and “information visualization” (Lima 2011), suggesting that digital technologies could enhance the resources of the Warburg Library in ways that could not only reflect but also expand the original plan of his founder. On these assumptions, this article investigates how digital media – including linked data – are likely to affect the transdisciplinary process of knowledge production represented in paper format in the Warburg Library. We look at how these have been developed in the digital resources of the Warburg Institute, their potential for further development and what impact they have on the process of knowledge production and scholarly training. It concentrates on the specific case study of a mythological figure, Venus, examining how the potential connections between images and texts available in the Library can be reconfigured in the digital space

Applying diffuse ultrasound under dynamic loading to improve closed crack characterization in concrete

International audienceRecent studies show the ability of diffuse ultrasound to characterize surface breaking cracks in concrete. However, derived parameters are sensitive to the presence of partially opened zones along the crack whose pattern may differ from one sample to another. The aim of this letter is to study the variation of diffuse ultrasound parameters while the sample is driven by a low frequency bending load which alternatively opens and closes the crack, allowing to access supplementary information about its morphology. The results show the sensitivity of the method for various crack depths and highlight its potential for concrete nondestructive evaluation

Influence of the depth and morphology of real cracks on diffuse ultrasound in concrete: a simulation study

International audienceThe aim of the present paper is to simulate the propagation of diffuse ultrasonic energy in concrete in the presence of a real crack. The numerical model is presented and validated by the comparison with experimental data from the literature. Unlike most of the studies which consider a crack as a notch, a realistic crack morphology exhibits partial contacts along its lips. These contacts are modeled in order to study their influence on the diffusion parameters. The feasibility of determining the contact density of the crack is shown, revealing practice implications for non-destructive crack sizing and imaging in concrete