How Effective is China’s Monetary Policy? An assessment of the link between the growth of monetary aggregates and inflation during the 2000s

The effectiveness of China’s monetary policy hinges on the existence of a robust link between the growth of monetary aggregates and inflation. This paper considers this link during the 2000s using Structural VAR models and simulated out-of-sample forecasting techniques. The results indicate that the link is far from robust. Such findings serve to underscore the importance of institutional reforms that will enable interest rates to play a more prominent role as an instrument of monetary policy.

'Koze Kube Nini?' The violence of representation and the politics of social research in South Africa

Paper presented at the Wits History Workshop: Democracy, Popular Precedents, Practice and Culture, 13-15 July, 199

Revisiting Client/Server Computing

The role of the Information Technology department is changing as it continues to mature and adapt to changes in technology, much of that change dealing with its interaction with corporate end-users. IT departments must continue to move in a more user friendly direction or they are going to encounter serious political problems with top management. The increased interest in cloud computing, green computing, and in outsourcing are further indicators of the problems that IT departments are currently facing.   Information Technology departments must approach client/server with a clear view of the lasting business benefits that it can bring rather than opposing or resisting the migratio

Simulation of organismic morphology and behavior by synthetic poly-alpha-amino acids

Simulation of organismic morphology and behavior by synthetic poly-amino acid

Collaborative soft object manipulation for game engine-based virtual reality surgery simulators

In this paper we analyse and evaluate the capabilities of popular game engines to simulate and interact with soft objects. We discuss how these engines can be used for simulated surgical training applications, determine their shortcomings and make suggestions how game engines can be extended to make them more suitable for such applications

Potentialities of proteinoids for nutritional investigation

Simultaneous synthesis of amino acids and proteinoid production for nutritional investigatio

On the dynamics of vortex modes within magnetic islands

Recent work investigating the interaction of magnetic islands with micro-turbulence has uncovered the striking observation of large scale vortex modes forming within the island structure [W.A. Hornsby {\it et al.}, Phys. Plasmas {\bf 17} 092301 (2010)]. These electrostatic vortices are found to be the size of the island and are oscillatory. It is this oscillatory behaviour and the presence of turbulence that leads us to believe that the dynamics are related to the Geodesic Acoustic Mode (GAM), and it is this link that is investigated in this paper. Here we derive an equation for the GAM in the MHD limit, in the presence of a magnetic island modified three-dimensional axisymmetric geometry. The eigenvalues and eigenfunctions are calculated numerically and then utilised to analyse the dynamics of oscillatory large-scale electrostatic potential structures seen in both linear and non-linear gyro-kinetic simulations

Imaging complex ventral hernias, their surgical repair, and their complications

Complex ventral hernia (CVH) describes large, anterior, ventral hernias. The incidence of CVH is rising rapidly due to increasing laparotomy rates in ever older, obese and co-morbid patients. Surgeons with a specific interest in CVH repair are now frequently referring these patients for imaging, normally computed tomography scanning. This review describes what information is required from preoperative imaging and the surgical options and techniques used for CVH repair, so that radiologists understand the postoperative appearances specific to CVH and are aware of the common complications following surgery. KEY POINTS: • Complex ventral hernia (CVH) describes large abdominal wall hernias (e.g. width ≥10cm). • CVH patients are being referred increasingly for preoperative and postoperative imaging. • Imaging is pivotal to characterise preoperative morphology and quantify loss of domain. • Postoperative imaging appearances are contingent on the surgical methods used for CVH repair. • Postoperative complications are depicted easily by imaging

Enhancing virtual environment-based surgical teamwork training with non-verbal communication

Virtual reality simulations for training surgical skills are increasingly used in medical education and have been shown to improve patient outcome. While advances in hardware and simulation techniques have resulted in many commercial applications for training technical skills, most of these simulators are extremely expensive and do not consider non-technical skills like teamwork and communication. This is a major drawback since recent research suggests that a large percentage of mistakes in clinical settings are due to communication problems. In addition, training teamwork can also improve the efficiency of a surgical team and as such reduce costs and workload. We present an inexpensive camera-based system for capturing aspects of non-verbal communication of users participating in virtual environment-based teamwork simulations. This data can be used for the enhancement of virtual-environment-based simulations to increase the realism and effectiveness of team communication

Security Awareness Programs

A critical component of security design is security awareness programs. Implemented effectively, security awareness programs enable organizational members to understand the organizations security posture, their responsibilities, and courses of action in the face of security incidents (Purser, 2004). Awareness training programs should be designed as an initiative to foster organizational learning. In addition to the widely used training methods built with traditional or computer-based media, organizational learning tools, such as cognitive maps, are recommended in training to build security awareness as one type of distributed cognition