Макроекономіка: ефект позитивних очікувань

Нобелівську премію з економіки отримали американські економісти Томас Сарджент (Thomas Sargent) і Крістофер Сімс (Christopher Sims). Вони розробили методи, що дають змогу розрахувати зв’язок між економічною політикою і такими макроекономічними параметрами, як ВВП, інфляція, безробіття, інвестиції. Відзначенням престижною нагородою дослідників «причин і наслідків у макроекономіці» Нобелівський комітет підкреслив актуальність їхньої теорії про те, що настрої приватного сектору і позитивні очікування важливі для успіху як в економіці, так і в політиці

Визначення статусу Головного контрольно-ревізійного управління України в системі органів виконавчої влади в контексті адміністративної реформи

Розбіжність у окремих нормативно правових актах України стосовно визначення статусу та підпорядкування Головного контрольно-ревізійне управління України, керівного органу державної контрольно ревізійної служби, уповноваженого на здійснення контролюючих функцій від імені Кабінету Міністрів України, призначення на посаду керівника зазначеного органу і відповідно визначення його місця у механізмі державної влади потребує чіткого врегулювання в контексті адміністративно-правової реформи, запровадження публічної адміністрації та удосконалення системи органів виконавчої влади, пов'язаності з іншими гілками влади системою стримувань і противаг. Ключові слова: державне управління, державний орган, правовий статус, державна контрольно ревізійна служба, механізм державної влади, Головне контрольноревізійне управління України, контроль за використанням державних коштівНесоответствие у отдельных нормативно правовых актах Украины относительно определения статусу та подчинения Главного контрольно ревизионного управления Украины, руководящего органа государственной контрольно ревизионной службы, уполномоченного на осуществление контролирующих функций от имени Кабинета Министров Украины, назначение на должность руководителя указанного органа и соответственно определения его места в механизме государственной власти требует четкого урегулирования в контексте административно правовой реформы, внедрения публичной администрации та усовершенствования системы органов исполнительной власти, связи с другими ветвями власти системой сдерживания та противовесов. Ключевые слова: государственное управление, государственный орган, правовой статус, государственная контрольно ревизионная служба, механизм государственной власти, Главное контрольно ревизионное управление Украины, контроль использования государственных средств.Inconsistency in some normative legal acts of Ukraine as regards determination of the status and subordination of the Main Control and Revision Office of Ukraine, the chief authority of the state control and revision service, entitled for performance of controlling functions on behalf of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, appointment of the Chairman of the mentioned authority and correspondingly determination of his/her place in the machinery of the government require clear regulation in the context of administrative legal reform, introduction of public administration and improvement of the system of executive authorities, connection with other branches of power by the system of restraints and counterbalances. Key words: public administration, state authority, legal status, the state control and revision service, machinery of the government, the Main Control and Revision Office of Ukraine, control over use of public funds

Growth references for height, weight and body mass index of twins aged 0–2.5 years.

Aim: To determine the size of the growth deficit in Dutch monozygotic and dizygotic twins aged 0-2.5 years as compared to singletons and to construct reference growth charts for twins. Methods: Growth of twins was studied using longitudinal data on over 4000 twins aged 0-2.5 years of the Netherlands Twin Register. The LMS method was used to obtain growth references for length/height, weight, and body mass index (BMI) for twins. Results: During the first 2.5 years of age, differences in length/height and weight between twins and singletons decrease but do not disappear. BMI of twins deviates less than that of singletons. Approximately half of the growth retardation from birth until 1.5 years of age was attributable to gestational age. Between 1.5 years and 2.5 years of age, this difference was reduced to one-third. Thus, a substantial part of the growth difference could not be explained by gestational age. © 2008 Foundation Acta Pædiatrica

Wave-induced light field fluctuations in measured irradiance depth profiles: A wavelet analysis

Rapid variations in the intensities of light are commonly observed in profiles of downwelling plane irradiance in the ocean. These fluctuations are often treated as noise and filtered out. Here an effort is made to extract the pertinent statistics to quantify the light field fluctuations from vertical profiles of irradiance measured under clear skies. The irradiance data are collected in oceanic and coastal waters using a traditional free-fall downwelling plane irradiance sensor. The irradiance profiles are transformed into time-frequency domain with a wavelet technique. Two signatures including the dominant frequency (<3.5 Hz) and the coefficient of variation of irradiance fluctuations along the water column are identified from the variance spectrum. Both the dominant frequency and the amplitude decrease as the inverse square root of depth, consistent with simple models of wave focusing and data from other studies. Mechanisms contributing to the observed variations and the observational uncertainties are discussed

Memory Inflation during Chronic Viral Infection Is Maintained by Continuous Production of Short-Lived, Functional T Cells

SummaryDuring persistent murine cytomegalovirus (MCMV) infection, the T cell response is maintained at extremely high intensity for the life of the host. These cells closely resemble human CMV-specific cells, which compose a major component of the peripheral T cell compartment in most people. Despite a phenotype that suggests extensive antigen-driven differentiation, MCMV-specific T cells remain functional and respond vigorously to viral challenge. We hypothesized that a low rate of antigen-driven proliferation would account for the maintenance of this population. Instead, we found that most of these cells divided only sporadically in chronically infected hosts and had a short half-life in circulation. The overall population was supported, at least in part, by memory T cells primed early in infection, as well as by recruitment of naive T cells at late times. Thus, these data show that memory inflation is maintained by a continuous replacement of short-lived, functional cells during chronic MCMV infection

Maternal vitamin D status in pregnancy and molar incisor hypomineralisation and hypomineralised second primary molars in the offspring at 7–9 years of age:a longitudinal study

Purpose: The study aimed to investigate associations between maternal vitamin D status during pregnancy and molar incisor hypomineralisation (MIH) and hypomineralised second primary molars (HSPM) among children. Methods: The study had a longitudinal design using prospectively collected data from 176 mother and child pairs. Mothers were initially recruited in a randomised controlled trial to assess a pregnancy exercise programme. Along with the 7-year follow-up, we invited the children to a dental examination. The exposure variable was maternal serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D in gestational weeks 18–22 and 32–36, categorised as insufficient (< 50 nmol/l) and sufficient (≥ 50 nmol/l). Negative binomial hurdle models were used to analyse potential associations between the exposure variables and MIH or HSPM. The models were adjusted for potential confounders. Results: Among the children (7–9 years old), 32% and 22% had at least one tooth with MIH or HSPM, respectively. A significant association was found between insufficient maternal vitamin D measured in gestational weeks 18–22 and the number of affected teeth among those with MIH at 7–9 years (adjusted RR = 1.82, 95% CI 1.13–2.93). Conclusion: Considering any limitations of the present study, it has been shown that insufficient maternal serum vitamin D at mid-pregnancy was associated with a higher number of affected teeth among the offspring with MIH at 7–9 years of age. Further prospective studies are needed to investigate whether this finding is replicable and to clarify the role of maternal vitamin D status during pregnancy and MIH, as well as HSPM, in children

Three mechanisms of hydrogen-induced dislocation pinning in tungsten

The high-flux deuterium plasma impinging on a divertor degrades the long-termthermo-mechanical performance of its tungsten plasma-facing components. A prime actor inthis is hydrogen embrittlement, a degradation phenomenon that involves the interactions between hydrogen and dislocations, the primary carriers of plasticity. Measuring such nanoscaleinteractions is still very challenging, which limits our understanding. Here, we demonstrate anexperimental approach that combines thermal desorption spectroscopy (TDS) andnanoindentation, allowing to investigate the effect of hydrogen on the dislocation mobility in tungsten. Dislocation mobility was found to be reduced after deuterium injection, which ismanifested as a ‘pop-in’ in the indentation stress-strain curve, with an average activation stressfor dislocation mobility that was more than doubled. All experimental results can be confidentlyexplained, in conjunction with experimental and numerical literature findings, by the simultaneous activation of three mechanisms responsible for dislocation pinning: (i) hydrogentrapping at pre-existing dislocations, (ii) hydrogen-induced vacancies, and (iii) stabilization ofvacancies by hydrogen, contributing respectively 38%, 52%, and 34% to the extra activationstress. These mechanisms are considered to be essential for the proper understanding and modeling of hydrogen embrittlement in tungsten