Global Imbalances and the Global Saving Glut – A Panel Data Assessment

Since the late 1990s there have been substantial changes in the current account balances of a number of economies, most notably a marked widening in the current account deficit of the United States and increased net lending by many developing nations to developed economies. This paper uses panel data to examine what may have contributed to changes in the current account positions of a wide sample of developing and developed economies. In particular, we aim to assess the ‘global saving glut’ hypothesis that financial crises have contributed to the current account surpluses in developing economies. Overall, we find some support for this argument; there is a significant role for financial crises as well as institutional factors in determining current account balances. However, the model captures the broad trends evident in international capital flows for only some of the major regions in our sample.current accounts; financial crises; capital flows

Collaborative synthesis of visual analytic results

Visual analytic tools allow analysts to generate large collections of useful analytical results. We anticipate that analysts in most real world situations will draw from these collections when working together to solve complicated problems. This indicates a need to understand how users synthesize multiple collections of results. This paper reports the results of collaborative synthesis experiments conducted with expert geographers and disease biologists. Ten participants were worked in pairs to complete a simulated real-world synthesis task using artifacts printed on cards on a large, paper-covered workspace. Experiment results indicate that groups use a number of different approaches to collaborative synthesis, and that they employ a variety of organizational metaphors to structure their information. It is further evident that establishing common ground and role assignment are critical aspects of collaborative synthesis. We conclude with a set of general design guidelines for collaborative synthesis support tools

Ship target recognition

Includes bibliographical references.In this report the classification of ship targets using a low resolution radar system is investigated. The thesis can be divided into two major parts. The first part summarizes research into the applications of neural networks to the low resolution non-cooperative ship target recognition problem. Three very different neural architectures are investigated and compared, namely; the Feedforward Network with Back-propagation, Kohonen's Supervised Learning Vector Quantization Network, and Simpson's Fuzzy Min-Max neural network. In all cases, pre-processing in the form of the Fourier-Modified Discrete Mellin Transform is used as a means of extracting feature vectors which are insensitive to the aspect angle of the radar. Classification tests are based on both simulated and real data. Classification accuracies of up to 93 are reported. The second part is of a purely investigative nature, and summarizes a body of research aimed at exploring new ground. The crux of this work is centered on the proposal to use synthetic range profiling in order to achieve a much higher range resolution (and hence better classification accuracies). Included in this work is a comprehensive investigation into the use of super-resolution and noise reducing eigendecomposition techniques. Algorithms investigated include the Principal Eigenvector Method, the Total Least Squares Method, and the MUSIC method. A final proposal for future research and development concerns the use of time domain averaging to improve the classification performance of the radar system. The use of an iterative correlation algorithm is investigated

Rediscovering the Protestant Reformation in African American Worship

Foundations are fundamental. Whether in the structure of a building, developing the mind, or establishing the faith, foundations are critical. The five solas of the Protestant Reformation are foundational to the Christian faith. When thinking of the Reformation and the five solas it produced, Psalm 11:3 comes to mind. This passage reads, “If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do” (Psalm 11:3, King James Version)? Today’s church needs to return to its foundations. This study argues that the five solas are a firm and solid foundation for the church. During the turbulent times of the Reformation, they held the church together. The Catholic church, like today’s church, got off course, off-centered, and strayed away from doctrinal truths. In the words of the Apostle Paul, “For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves to the righteousness of God” (Romans 10:3, KJV). While God has given the church truth and righteousness, there are times when the church becomes complacent and moves away from it. Today’s church, especially the African American church, needs to go back to the foundations. During the Reformation, the solas were instrumental in leading the people back to the truths of the Bible. As a result, restoration and reformation took place. The five solas: sola Scriptura (Scripture Alone), sola fide (Faith Alone), sola gratia (Grace Alone), solus Christus (Christ Alone), soli Deo Gloria (God’s Glory Alone) are fundamental doctrines that can help the church regain her footing

The role of lipid metabolism in the immunopathogenesis of juvenile-onset systemic lupus erythematosus

Juvenile-onset systemic lupus erythematosus (JSLE) is a complex autoimmune disorder characterised by chronic inflammation, multiple organ damage and increased risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD). Disease onset in JSLE is more common during puberty and the female to male ratio is 4.5:1, suggesting a hormonal importance in disease pathogenesis. Work by the Jury lab in adult-onset SLE links immune cell dysregulation with defects in plasma membrane lipids rafts; signalling platforms that facilitate immune cell activation and effector function. However, in patients with JSLE, the immune system is still developing and very little is known about disease pathogenesis, whether it is the same as adult disease and whether the same treatments available to the adults are relevant for this younger group of patients. My hypothesis is that altered lipid metabolism leads to changes in immune cell function; differences in lipid metabolism exist between males and females and defects in these pathways contribute to JSLE pathogenesis. My aims were to 1) investigate sex differences in immune and metabolic phenotype in healthy individuals and JSLE patients, 2) assess the relationship between immune cells and serum lipids and 3) identify predictive biomarkers for CVD risk in JSLE. Using in depth immunophenotyping by flow cytometry and metabolomic analysis, this study has identified fundamental differences between healthy adolescent males and females. Males had increased regulatory T-cell (Treg) frequencies, altered lipid raft profiles and functional differences including an increased IL-4 production and suppressive capacity compared to females. These Treg phenotypic differences were associated with the very low density lipoprotein (VLDL) signature connected with males. In a chronic inflammatory setting (JSLE), these differences were lost between males and females. I also found that JSLE patients could be stratified according to their serum lipoprotein profile allowing potential identification of patients with increased CVD risk. This work provides evidence that a combination of pubertal development, immune cell defects and dyslipidemia may contribute to JSLE pathogenesis. Patient stratification has identified a unique group of patients that could benefit from lipid modification therapy, reducing both CVD risk and immune cell activity