The Impact of Monetary Policy on Asset Prices

Estimating the response of asset prices to changes in monetary policy is complicated by the endogeneity of policy decisions and the fact that both interest rates and asset prices react to numerous other variables. This paper develops a new estimator that is based on the heteroskedasticity that exists in high frequency data. We show that the response of asset prices to changes in monetary policy can be identified based on the increase in the variance of policy shocks that occurs on days of FOMC meetings and of the Chairman's semi-annual monetary policy testimony to Congress. The identification approach employed requires a much weaker set of assumptions than needed under the 'event-study' approach that is typically used in this context. The results indicate that an increase in short-term interest rates results in a decline in stock prices and in an upward shift in the yield curve that becomes smaller at longer maturities. The findings also suggest that the event-study estimates contain biases that make the estimated effects on stock prices appear too small and those on Treasury yields too large.

Plurality Influence: Reed Elsevier and the Precedential Value of Bazzle on Class Arbitrability

Class arbitration is a tricky process to navigate as it introduces more parties, higher stakes, and more procedures than typical bilateral arbitration. Because class arbitration is more complex, the determination as to whether an arbitration agreement authorizes class arbitration (class arbitrability) is an important one, and the entity that makes the class determination should be knowledgeable about class procedures in order to be suited to make such an important finding. In Reed Elsevier, Inc. ex rel. LexisNexis Div. v. Crockett, the Sixth Circuit held that the determination of class arbitrability should be presumptively reserved to judicial courts, not arbitrators, unless the arbitration agreement expressly provides otherwise. This Note discusses the circuit split that arose following the Sixth Circuit\u27s holding in Reed Elsevier, and then explores the precedential value of United States Supreme Court plurality opinions. In conclusion, this note argues that Reed Elsevier highlights the jurisprudence of recent Supreme Court cases; together, these cases indicate a shift away from Bazzle3 and are more persuasive than any single plurality opinion

Macroeconomic implications of changes in the term premium

Linearized New Keynesian models and empirical no-arbitrage macro-finance models offer little insight regarding the implications of changes in bond term premiums for economic activity. This paper investigates these implications using both a structural model and a reduced-form framework. The authors show that there is no structural relationship running from the term premium to economic activity, but a reduced-form empirical analysis does suggest that a decline in the term premium has typically been associated with stimulus to real economic activity, which contradicts earlier results in the literature.Macroeconomics ; Finance

Macroeconomic implications of changes in the term premium

Linearized New Keynesian models and empirical no-arbitrage macro-finance models offer little insight regarding the implications of changes in bond term premiums for economic activity. We investigate these implications using both a structural model and a reduced-form framework. We show that there is no structural relationship running from the term premium to economic activity, but a reduced-form empirical analysis does suggest that a decline in the term premium has typically been associated with stimulus to real economic activity, which contradicts earlier results in the literature.Interest rates ; Economic forecasting ; Econometric models

Left parietal tACS at alpha frequency induces a shift of visuospatial attention

Background Voluntary shifts of visuospatial attention are associated with a lateralization of parieto-occipital alpha power (7-13Hz), i.e. higher power in the hemisphere ipsilateral and lower power contralateral to the locus of attention. Recent noninvasive neuromodulation studies demonstrated that alpha power can be experimentally increased using transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS). Objective/Hypothesis We hypothesized that tACS at alpha frequency over the left parietal cortex induces shifts of attention to the left hemifield. However, spatial attention shifts not only occur voluntarily (endogenous/ top-down), but also stimulus-driven (exogenous/ bottom-up). To study the task-specificity of the potential effects of tACS on attentional processes, we administered three conceptually different spatial attention tasks. Methods 36 healthy volunteers were recruited from an academic environment. In two separate sessions, we applied either high-density tACS at 10Hz, or sham tACS, for 35–40 minutes to their left parietal cortex. We systematically compared performance on endogenous attention, exogenous attention, and stimulus detection tasks. Results In the endogenous attention task, a greater leftward bias in reaction times was induced during left parietal 10Hz tACS as compared to sham. There were no stimulation effects in either the exogenous attention or the stimulus detection task. Conclusion The study demonstrates that high-density tACS at 10Hz can be used to modulate visuospatial attention performance. The tACS effect is task-specific, indicating that not all forms of attention are equally susceptible to the stimulation

Genetic Fusions of a CFA/I/II/IV MEFA (Multiepitope Fusion Antigen) and a Toxoid Fusion of Heat-Stable Toxin (STa) and Heat-Labile Toxin (LT) of Enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC) Retain Broad Anti-CFA and Antitoxin Antigenicity

Citation: Ruan, X. S., Sack, D. A., & Zhang, W. P. (2015). Genetic Fusions of a CFA/I/II/IV MEFA (Multiepitope Fusion Antigen) and a Toxoid Fusion of Heat-Stable Toxin (STa) and Heat-Labile Toxin (LT) of Enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC) Retain Broad Anti-CFA and Antitoxin Antigenicity. Plos One, 10(3), 20. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0121623Immunological heterogeneity has long been the major challenge in developing broadly effective vaccines to protect humans and animals against bacterial and viral infections. Enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC) strains, the leading bacterial cause of diarrhea in humans, express at least 23 immunologically different colonization factor antigens (CFAs) and two distinct enterotoxins [heat-labile toxin (LT) and heat-stable toxin type Ib (STa or hSTa)]. ETEC strains expressing any one or two CFAs and either toxin cause diarrhea, therefore vaccines inducing broad immunity against a majority of CFAs, if not all, and both toxins are expected to be effective against ETEC. In this study, we applied the multiepitope fusion antigen (MEFA) strategy to construct ETEC antigens and examined antigens for broad anti-CFA and antitoxin immunogenicity. CFA MEFA CFA/I/II/IV [CVI 2014, 21(2): 2439], which carried epitopes of seven CFAs [CFA/I, CFA/II (CS1, CS2, CS3), CFA/IV (CS4, CS5, CS6)] expressed by the most prevalent and virulent ETEC strains, was genetically fused to LT-STa toxoid fusion monomer 3xSTa(A14Q)-dmLT or 3xSTa(N12S)-dmLT [IAI 2014, 82(5): 1823-32] for CFA/I/II/IV-STaA14Q-dmLT and CFA/I/II/IV-STaN12S-dmLT MEFAs. Mice intraperitoneally immunized with either CFA/I/II/IV-STa-(toxoid)-dmLT MEFA developed antibodies specific to seven CFAs and both toxins, at levels equivalent or comparable to those induced from co-administration of the CFA/I/II/IV MEFA and toxoid fusion 3xSTaN12S-dmLT. Moreover, induced antibodies showed in vitro adherence inhibition activities against ETEC or E. coli strains expressing these seven CFAs and neutralization activities against both toxins. These results indicated CFA/I/II/IV-STa-(toxoid)-dmLT MEFA or CFA/I/II/IV MEFA combined with 3xSTa(N12S)-dmLT induced broadly protective anti-CFA and antitoxin immunity, suggested their potential application in broadly effective ETEC vaccine development. This MEFA strategy may be generally used in multivalent vaccine development

The effects of maternal social phobia on mother-infant interactions and infant social responsiveness

Background: Social phobia aggregates in families. The genetic contribution to intergenerational transmission is modest, and parenting is considered important. Research on the effects of social phobia on parenting has been subject to problems of small sample size, heterogeneity of samples and lack of specificity of observational frameworks. We addressed these problems in the current study.Methods: We assessed mothers with social phobia (N = 84) and control mothers (N = 89) at 10 weeks in face-to-face interactions with their infants, and during a social challenge, namely, engaging with a stranger. We also assessed mothers with generalised anxiety disorder (GAD) (N = 50). We examined the contribution to infant social responsiveness of early infant characteristics (neonatal irritability), as well as maternal behaviour. Results: Mothers with social phobia were no less sensitive to their infants during face-to-face interactions than control mothers, but when interacting with the stranger they appeared more anxious, engaged less with the stranger themselves, and were less encouraging of the infant's interaction with the stranger; infants of index mothers also showed reduced social responsiveness to the stranger. These differences did not apply to mothers with GAD and their infants. Regression analyses showed that the reduction in social responsiveness in infants of mothers with social phobia was predicted by neonatal irritability and the degree to which the mother encouraged the infant to interact with the stranger.Conclusions: Mothers with social phobia show specific parenting difficulties, and their infants show early signs of reduced social responsiveness that are related to both individual infant differences and a lack of maternal encouragement to engage in social interactions

Movers and shakers: Granular damping in microgravity

The response of an oscillating granular damper to an initial perturbation is studied using experiments performed in microgravity and granular dynamics mulations. High-speed video and image processing techniques are used to extract experimental data. An inelastic hard sphere model is developed to perform simulations and the results are in excellent agreement with the experiments. The granular damper behaves like a frictional damper and a linear decay of the amplitude is bserved. This is true even for the simulation model, where friction forces are absent. A simple expression is developed which predicts the optimal damping conditions for a given amplitude and is independent of the oscillation frequency and particle inelasticities.Comment: 9 pages, 9 figure