The Quantity Theory of Money is Valid. The New Keynesians are Wrong!

We test the quantity theory of money (QTM) using a novel approach and a large new sample. We do not follow the usual approach of first differentiating the logarithm of the Cambridge equation to obtain an equation relating the growth rate of real GDP, the growth rate of money and inflation. These variables must then again be ‘integrated’ by averaging in order to obtain stable relationships. Instead we suggest a much simpler procedure for testing directly the stability of the coefficient of the Cambridge equation. For 125 countries and post-war data we find the coefficient to be surprisingly stable. We do not select for high inflation episodes as was done in most empirical studies; inflation rates do not even appear in our data set. Much work supporting the QTM has been done by economic historians and at the University of Chicago by Milton Friedman and his associates. The QTM was a foundation stone of the monetarist revolution. Subsequently belief in it waned. The currently dominant New Keynesian School, implicitly or explicitly denies the validity of the QTM. We survey this history and argue that the QTM is valid and New Keynesians are wrong

Misfit-dislocation generation by dissociated dislocations in quantum-well heterostructures

The mechanisms whereby 60° misfit dislocations are generated from dissociated threading dislocations in quantum-well heterostructures are considered. The two partial dislocations experience different misfit stresses, resulting in each partial having a different critical thickness. As a consequence, a number of different dislocation configurations are predicted, including the possibility of producing stacking faults of infinite width. © 1994 The American Physical Societ

Glucocorticoids rapidly inhibit cell migration through a novel, non-transcriptional HDAC6 pathway

Glucocorticoids (GCs) act through the glucocorticoid receptor (GR, also known as NR3C1) to regulate immunity, energy metabolism and tissue repair. Upon ligand binding, activated GR mediates cellular effects by regulating gene expression, but some GR effects can occur rapidly without new transcription. Here, we show that GCs rapidly inhibit cell migration, in response to both GR agonist and antagonist ligand binding. The inhibitory effect on migration is prevented by GR knockdown with siRNA, confirming GR specificity, but not by actinomycin D treatment, suggesting a non-transcriptional mechanism. We identified a rapid onset increase in microtubule polymerisation following GC treatment, identifying cytoskeletal stabilisation as the likely mechanism of action. HDAC6 overexpression, but not knockdown of αTAT1, rescued the GC effect, implicating HDAC6 as the GR effector. Consistent with this hypothesis, ligand-dependent cytoplasmic interaction between GR and HDAC6 was demonstrated by quantitative imaging. Taken together, we propose that activated GR inhibits HDAC6 function, and thereby increases the stability of the microtubule network to reduce cell motility. We therefore report a novel, non-transcriptional mechanism whereby GCs impair cell motility through inhibition of HDAC6 and rapid reorganization of the cell architecture. This article has an associated First Person interview with the first author of the paper

An Unbiased Survey of 500 Nearby Stars for Debris Disks: A JCMT Legacy Program

We present the scientific motivation and observing plan for an upcoming detection survey for debris disks using the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope. The SCUBA-2 Unbiased Nearby Stars (SUNS) Survey will observe 500 nearby main sequence and sub-giant stars (100 of each of the A, F, G, K and M spectral classes) to the 850 micron extragalactic confusion limit to search for evidence of submillimeter excess, an indication of circumstellar material. The survey distance boundaries are 8.6, 16.5, 22, 25 and 45 pc for M, K, G, F and A stars, respectively, and all targets lie between the declinations of -40 deg to 80 deg. In this survey, no star will be rejected based on its inherent properties: binarity, presence of planetary companions, spectral type or age. This will be the first unbiased survey for debris disks since IRAS. We expect to detect ~125 debris disks, including ~50 cold disks not detectable in current shorter wavelength surveys. A substantial amount of complementary data will be required to constrain the temperatures and masses of discovered disks. High resolution studies will likely be required to resolve many of the disks. Therefore, these systems will be the focus of future observational studies using a variety of observatories to characterize their physical properties. For non-detected systems, this survey will set constraints (upper limits) on the amount of circumstellar dust, of typically 200 times the Kuiper Belt mass, but as low as 10 times the Kuiper Belt mass for the nearest stars in the sample (approximately 2 pc).Comment: 11 pages, 7 figures (3 color), accepted by the Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacifi

The clock gene <i>Bmal1</i> inhibits macrophage motility, phagocytosis, and impairs defense against pneumonia

The circadian clock regulates many aspects of immunity. Bacterial infections are affected by time of day, but the mechanisms involved remain undefined. Here we show that loss of the core clock protein BMAL1 in macrophages confers protection against pneumococcal pneumonia. Infected mice show both reduced weight loss and lower bacterial burden in circulating blood. In vivo studies of macrophage phagocytosis reveal increased bacterial ingestion following Bmal1 deletion, which was also seen in vitro. BMAL1−/− macrophages exhibited marked differences in actin cytoskeletal organization, a phosphoproteome enriched for cytoskeletal changes, with reduced phosphocofilin and increased active RhoA. Further analysis of the BMAL1−/− macrophages identified altered cell morphology and increased motility. Mechanistically, BMAL1 regulated a network of cell movement genes, 148 of which were within 100 kb of high-confidence BMAL1 binding sites. Links to RhoA function were identified, with 29 genes impacting RhoA expression or activation. RhoA inhibition restored the phagocytic phenotype to that seen in control macrophages. In summary, we identify a surprising gain of antibacterial function due to loss of BMAL1 in macrophages, associated with a RhoA-dependent cytoskeletal change, an increase in cell motility, and gain of phagocytic function

A wide-angle outflow with the simultaneous presence of a high-velocity jet in the high-mass Cepheus A HW2 system

We present five epochs of VLBI water maser observations around the massive protostar Cepheus A HW2 with 0.4 mas (0.3 AU) resolution. The main goal of these observations was to follow the evolution of the remarkable water maser linear/arcuate structures found in earlier VLBI observations. Comparing the data of our new epochs of observation with those observed five years before, we find that at "large" scales of > 1" (700 AU) the main regions of maser emission persist, implying that both the surrounding medium and the exciting sources of the masers have been relatively stable during that time span. However, at smaller scales of < 0.1" (70 AU) we see large changes in the maser structures, particularly in the expanding arcuate structures R4 and R5. R4 traces a nearly elliptical patchy ring of ~ 70 mas size (50 AU) with expanding motions of ~ 5 mas/yr (15 km/s). This structure is probably driven by the wind of a still unidentified YSO located at the centre of the ring (~ 0.18" south of HW2). On the other hand, the R5 expanding bubble structure (driven by the wind of a previously identified YSO located ~ 0.6" south of HW2) is currently dissipating in the circumstellar medium and losing its previous degree of symmetry, indicating a very short-lived event. In addition, our results reveal, at scales of ~ 1" (700 AU), the simultaneous presence of a relatively slow (~ 10-70 km/s) wide-angle outflow (opening angle of ~ 102 deg, traced by the masers, and the fast (~ 500~km/s) highly collimated radio jet associated with HW2 (opening angle of ~ 18 deg, previously observed with the VLA. This simultaneous presence of a wide-angle outflow and a highly collimated jet associated with a massive protostar is similar to what is found in some low-mass YSOs. The implications of these results in the study of the formation of high-mass stars are discussed.Comment: 28 pages, 7 figures. Animations will be included as supporting material online (MNRAS web page

Cell Cycle Phase Regulates Glucocorticoid Receptor Function

The glucocorticoid receptor (GR) is a member of the nuclear hormone receptor superfamily of ligand-activated transcription factors. In contrast to many other nuclear receptors, GR is thought to be exclusively cytoplasmic in quiescent cells, and only translocate to the nucleus on ligand binding. We now demonstrate significant nuclear GR in the absence of ligand, which requires nuclear localisation signal 1 (NLS1). Live cell imaging reveals dramatic GR import into the nucleus through interphase and rapid exclusion of the GR from the nucleus at the onset of mitosis, which persists into early G1. This suggests that the heterogeneity in GR distribution is reflective of cell cycle phase

Revising the WHO verbal autopsy instrument to facilitate routine cause-of-death monitoring.

OBJECTIVE: Verbal autopsy (VA) is a systematic approach for determining causes of death (CoD) in populations without routine medical certification. It has mainly been used in research contexts and involved relatively lengthy interviews. Our objective here is to describe the process used to shorten, simplify, and standardise the VA process to make it feasible for application on a larger scale such as in routine civil registration and vital statistics (CRVS) systems. METHODS: A literature review of existing VA instruments was undertaken. The World Health Organization (WHO) then facilitated an international consultation process to review experiences with existing VA instruments, including those from WHO, the Demographic Evaluation of Populations and their Health in Developing Countries (INDEPTH) Network, InterVA, and the Population Health Metrics Research Consortium (PHMRC). In an expert meeting, consideration was given to formulating a workable VA CoD list [with mapping to the International Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems, Tenth Revision (ICD-10) CoD] and to the viability and utility of existing VA interview questions, with a view to undertaking systematic simplification. FINDINGS: A revised VA CoD list was compiled enabling mapping of all ICD-10 CoD onto 62 VA cause categories, chosen on the grounds of public health significance as well as potential for ascertainment from VA. A set of 221 indicators for inclusion in the revised VA instrument was developed on the basis of accumulated experience, with appropriate skip patterns for various population sub-groups. The duration of a VA interview was reduced by about 40% with this new approach. CONCLUSIONS: The revised VA instrument resulting from this consultation process is presented here as a means of making it available for widespread use and evaluation. It is envisaged that this will be used in conjunction with automated models for assigning CoD from VA data, rather than involving physicians