When does an interest rate path “look good”? Criteria for an appropriate future interest rate path

Svensson (2004) suggested that a monetary policy committee of a central bank (MPC) should “find an instrument-rate path such that projections of inflation and output gap ‘look good’.” Academic literature on monetary policy gives guidance as to what the words “look good” means. However, there is a need for a translation of the theoretical framework into concrete criteria when an MPC shall evaluate interest rate paths in practice. Six criteria for an appropri-ate interest rate path are presented. In the November 2005 Inflation Report, Norges Bank presented for the first time an optimal interest rate path including a fan chart illustrating the uncertainty of the forecast using these criteria. Ex-amples used in explaining the criteria are drawn from Norwegian experiences.Forecasts, flexible inflation targeting, optimal monetary policy

Oil Price Shocks and Stock Return Predictability

Recent research has documented that oil price changes lead the aggregate market in most industrialized countries, and has argued that it represents an anomaly - an underreaction to information that investors can profit from. I identify oil price changes that are caused by exogenous events and show that it is only these oil price changes that predict stock returns. The exogenous events usually correspond to periods of extreme turmoil - either military conflicts in the Middle East or OPEC collapses. Given the source of the predictability, I question its usefulness as a trading strategy and its representation as an anomaly.Oil Price; Stock Markets

Long-Term Outcomes Following Laparoscopic and Abdominal Supracervical Hysterectomies

Long-term outcomes, in terms of cervical stump symptoms and overall patient satisfaction, were studied in women both after abdominal (SAH) and laparosocopic (LSH) supracervical hysterectomies. Altogether, 134 women had SAH and 315 women LSH during 2004 and 2005 at our department. The response rate of this retrospective study was 79%. Persistent vaginal bleeding after the surgery was reported by 17% in the SAH group and 24% in the LSH group. Regular bleeding was reported by only 8% in both study groups, and the women rarely found the bleeding bothersome. The women reported a significant pain reduction after the surgery, but women having a hysterectomy because of pain and/or endometriosis should be informed about the possibility of persistent symptoms. The overall patient satisfaction after both procedures was high, but the patients should have proper preoperative information about the possibility of cervical stump symptoms after any supracervical hysterectomy

Animal Models to Study the Role of Long-Term Hypergastrinemia in Gastric Carcinogenesis

Patients with chronic hypergastrinemia due to chronic atrophic gastritis or gastrinomas have an increased risk of developing gastric malignancy, and it has been questioned whether also patients with hypergastrinemia caused by long-term use of acid inhibiting drugs are at risk. Gastric carcinogenesis in humans is affected by numerous factors and progresses slowly over years. When using animal models with the possibility of intervention, a complex process can be dissected by studying the role of hypergastrinemia in carcinogenesis within a relatively short period of time. We have reviewed findings from relevant models where gastric changes in animal models of long-term hypergastrinemia have been investigated. In all species where long-term hypergastrinemia has been induced, there is an increased risk of gastric malignancy. There is evidence that hypergastrinemia is a common causative factor in carcinogenesis in the oxyntic mucosa, while other cofactors may vary in the different models

Genetic Rescue of the Highly Inbred Norwegian Lundehund

Augmenting the genetic diversity of small, inbred populations by the introduction of new individuals is often termed “genetic rescue“. An example is the Norwegian Lundehund, a small spitz dog with inbreeding-related health problems that is being crossed with three Nordic breeds, in-cluding the Norwegian Buhund. Conservation breeding decisions for the (typically) small number of outcrossed individuals are vital for managing the rescue process, and we genotyped the Lundehund (n = 12), the Buhund (n = 12), their crosses (F1, n = 7) and first-generation backcrosses to the Lundehund (F2, n = 12) with >170,000 single nucleotide polymorphism loci to compare their levels of genetic diversity. We predicted that genome-wide diversity in F2 dogs would be higher than in the Lundehund but lower than in the F1 and the Buhund, and the heterozygosity values showed the expected patterns. We also found that runs of homozygosity, extended chromosomal regions of homozygous genotypes inherited from a common ancestor, were reduced in F2 individuals compared with Lundehund individuals. Our analyses demonstrate the benefits of outcrossing but indicate that some of the acquired genetic diversity is lost following immediate backcrossing. Additional breeding among F2 crosses could therefore merit from further consideration in genetic rescue management.publishedVersio

En kvalitativ undersøkelse av hvordan profesjonelle avdelinger i Forsvaret utvikler mestringstro

Mestringstro fremkommer i teorien som den sterkeste enkeltstående variablene som noen gang har vært studert når det gjelder individuelle prestasjon. For å bli del av Forsvarets vervede avdelinger må personell bestå en seleksjon som tester deres fysisk og psykiske egenskaper. Tanken er at personell som består opptaket og seleksjonen allerede må ha en iboende mestringstro og i større grad være flinke til å utvikle det. Derfor ønsket vi å undersøke hva mestringstro betyr for to av forsvarets vervede avdelinger, samt hvilke metoder de bruker for å skape/utvikle mestringstro hos sine soldater og ledere