The impact of EMU on growth and employment

This study addresses and evaluates the impacts of the introduction of the euro on both actual and potential output and employment. In order to achieve this, a descriptive and analytical examination of developments before and after the launch of the euro is undertaken, with comparisons drawn between countries that are EMU members and non-EMU members. There are several channels through which the euro may have affected growth and employment: greater transparency and its impact on competitiveness and the effectiveness of the single market; integration of financial markets, which may raise productivity; and a more stable macroeconomic environment, which affects risk and investment decisions. We analyse the impact of each of these channels on the drivers of growth, after controlling for factors such as workforce skills, research base, openness, demographic developments and structural reform on the evolution of output. The central result of our study is that EMU affects output growth directly and also promotes reductions in output and real effective exchange rate volatility and thereby influences the accumulation of productive capital. Many potential concerns preceding the launch of the euro seem to have been unfounded, and our work suggests that the effects of EMU that we observe have been beneficial for economic growth and employment overall. Our analysis suggests that the direct positive effects of EMU are likely to be larger in the core countries, despite their recent slow growth, and that EMU may lead to agglomeration of activities.EMU, euro, euro and growth, euro and employment

Sentence Processing in Aphasia: Dual-Task and Sentence Type Effects

Adults with aphasia or no brain damage completed a grammaticality judgment task alone and in competition with a tone discrimination task to determine whether (a) cognitive factors interact with stimulus parameters (i.e., syntactic complexity, number of propositions) known to influence sentence processing, and (b) material-specific limitations (grammaticality judgment in isolation), general cognitive abilities (cognitive test scores), or both are important predictors of dual-task outcomes. Accuracy, grammatical sensitivity, and reaction time findings were consistent with resource models of aphasia and underscore the theoretical and clinical importance of acknowledging and specifying interactions between language and cognition in normal and patient populations

Lake Chudsk (Peipus) and limnological research in Imperial Russia

At the beginning of limnology, Lake Chudsk was entirely included in the Russian Empire. The first research answered the need to better understand and preserve fishery resources. Karl von Baer initiated the project in the 1850s. In the same years, research was carried out on the entire lake and its outfall, the Narva, in order to channel its energy while lowering the lake water level and then take advantage of its energetic potential. In the 1860s, the geologist Gregor von Helmersen wrote the first complete monograph of Lake Chudsk, but it was not until the 1895 campaign led by the geographer Joseph Spindler that the first bathymetric map of the lake was produced and the isothermal pattern of the temperature at all depths were plotted. Before Estonia became independent at the end of the First World War, most of the limnologists working on Lakes Chudsk and Pskov were German-Baltic scientists of Russian citizenship, favoring the encounter of several scientific cultures

Influence of the Stark effect on the fluorescence polarization of X 1 Σ → B 1 Π-state laser-excited NaRb: application to the direct imaging of electric fields

Abstract We investigate the possibility of using the electric-field-dependent laser-induced fluorescence scheme to create an image (or movie) of the electric field surrounding an object. Specifically we find that when NaRb is probed in this way, vector correlations between the excitation laser polarization, fluorescence radiation polarization, and electric field vector are sensitive to the magnitude of the electric field, even when the wavelength of the fluorescence (and hence final state J ) is not resolved

Effects of Levodopa-Carbidopa Intestinal Gel Compared with Optimized Medical Treatment on Nonmotor Symptoms in Advanced Parkinson’s Disease: INSIGHTS Study

Background. Nonmotor symptoms (NMS) are common in advanced Parkinson's disease (APD) and reduce health-related quality of life. Objective. The aim of the study was to evaluate levodopa-carbidopa intestinal gel (LCIG) versus optimized medical treatment (OMT) on NMS in APD. Methods. INSIGHTS was a phase 3b, open-label, randomized, multicenter study in patients with APD (LCIG or OMT, 26 weeks) (NCT02549092). Primary outcomes assessed were total NMS (NMS scale (NMSS) and PD sleep scale (PDSS-2)). Key secondary outcomes included the Unified PD Rating Scale (UPDRS) Part II, Clinical Global Impression of Change (CGI-C), and PD Questionnaire-8 (PDQ-8). Additional secondary measures of Patient Global Impression of Change (PGIC), King's PD Pain Scale (KPPS), and Parkinson Anxiety Scale (PAS) also were evaluated. Finally, safety was assessed. Results. Out of 89 patients randomized, 87 were included in the analysis (LCIG, n = 43; OMT, n = 44). There were no significant differences in NMSS or PDSS-2 total score changes (baseline to Week 26) between LCIG and OMT; within-group changes were significant for NMSS (LCIG, p < 0.001; OMT, p=0.005) and PDSS-2 (LCIG, p < 0.001; OMT, p < 0.001). Between-group treatment differences were nominally significant for UPDRS Part II (p=0.006) and CGI-C (p < 0.001) at Week 26 in favor of LCIG; however, statistical significance could not be claimed in light of primary efficacy outcomes. PGIC (Week 26) and KPPS (Week 12) scores were nominally significantly reduced with LCIG versus OMT (p < 0.001; p < 0.05). There were no significant differences in PDQ-8 or PAS. Adverse events (AEs) were mostly mild to moderate; common serious AEs were pneumoperitoneum (n = 2) and stoma-site infection (n = 2) (LCIG). Conclusions. There were no significant differences between LCIG versus OMT in NMSS or PDSS-2; both LCIG and OMT groups significantly improved from baseline. AEs were consistent with the known safety profile

Unified Topographic and Atmospheric Correction for Remote Imaging Spectroscopy

Models linking surface characteristics within incident solar radiation are inexorably dependent on the topography of the given region. To date, however, most operational surface reflectance retrievals treat this dependence by assuming a flat terrain, leading to significant deviations in the estimated reflectance. Here, we demonstrate that incorporating dynamic topography directly into the joint surface and atmospheric model during retrievals has several advantages. First, it allows for a more complete physical accounting of downwelling illumination, providing more accurate estimates of the absolute magnitude of reflectance. Second, it facilitates a superior resolution of the atmospheric state, most notably due to the confounding influence of atmospheric aerosols and unresolved topographic effects. Our methodology utilizes a practical, high-fidelity, model-driven approach to separate out diffuse and direct irradiation and account for topographic effects during the joint inversion of atmosphere and surface properties. We achieve this by enhancing the atmosphere/surface inversion to account for the radiative transfer effects of surface slope. We further demonstrate how uncertainties in topographic features can be quantified and leveraged within our formulation for a more realistic posterior uncertainty estimates. Our results demonstrate that the inclusion of topographic effects into the retrieval model reduces errors in the reflectance of an only moderately rugged terrain by more than 15%, and that a post hoc accounting of topography cannot achieve these same results

Regulation of DJ-1 by glutaredoxin 1 \u3ci\u3ein vivo – implications for Parkinson’s disease\u3c/i\u3e

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is the second most common neurodegenerative disease worldwide, caused by the degeneration of the dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra. Mutations in PARK7 (DJ-1) result in early onset autosomal recessive PD, and oxidative modification of DJ-1 has been reported to regulate the protective activity of DJ-1 in vitro. Glutathionylation is a prevalent redox modification of proteins resulting from the disulfide adduction of the glutathione moiety to a reactive cysteine-SH; and glutathionylation of specific proteins has been implicated in regulation of cell viability. Glutaredoxin 1 (Grx1) is the principal deglutathionylating enzyme within cells, and it has been reported to mediate protection of dopaminergic neurons in C. elegans, however many of the functional downstream targets of Grx1 in vivo remain unknown. Previously, DJ-1 protein content was shown to decrease concomitantly with diminution of Grx1 protein content in cell culture of model neurons (SH-SY5Y and Neuro-2A lines). In the current study we aimed to investigate the regulation of DJ-1 by Grx1 in vivo and characterize its glutathionylation in vitro. Here, with Grx−/− mice we provide evidence that Grx1 regulates protein levels of DJ-1 in vivo. Furthermore, with model neuronal cells (SH-SY5Y) we observed decreased DJ-1 protein content in response to treatment with known glutathionylating agents; and with isolated DJ-1 we identified two distinct sites of glutathionylation. Finally, we found that overexpression of DJ-1 in the dopaminergic neurons partly compensates for the loss of the Grx1 homolog in a C. elegans in vivo model of PD. Therefore; our results reveal a novel redox modification of DJ-1 and suggest a novel regulatory mechanism for DJ-1 content in vivo

BNIP3 and NIX Mediate Mieap-Induced Accumulation of Lysosomal Proteins within Mitochondria

Mieap, a p53-inducible protein, controls mitochondrial quality by repairing unhealthy mitochondria. During repair, Mieap induces the accumulation of intramitochondrial lysosomal proteins (designated MALM for Mieap-induced accumulation of lysosome-like organelles within mitochondria) by interacting with NIX, leading to the elimination of oxidized mitochondrial proteins. Here, we report that an additional mitochondrial outer membrane protein, BNIP3, is also involved in MALM. BNIP3 interacts with Mieap in a reactive oxygen species (ROS)-dependent manner via the BH3 domain of BNIP3 and the coiled-coil domains of Mieap. The knockdown of endogenous BNIP3 expression severely inhibited MALM. Although the overexpression of either BNIP3 or NIX did not cause a remarkable change in the mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP), the co-expression of all three exogenous proteins, Mieap, BNIP3 and NIX, caused a dramatic reduction in MMP, implying that the physical interaction of Mieap, BNIP3 and NIX at the mitochondrial outer membrane may regulate the opening of a pore in the mitochondrial double membrane. This effect was not related to cell death. These results suggest that two mitochondrial outer membrane proteins, BNIP3 and NIX, mediate MALM in order to maintain mitochondrial integrity. The physical interaction of Mieap, BNIP3 and NIX at the mitochondrial outer membrane may play a critical role in the translocation of lysosomal proteins from the cytoplasm to the mitochondrial matrix