How Do Income and the Debt Position of Households Propagate Public into Private Spending?

We study the household sector’s post-tax income and debt position as propagation mechanisms of public into private spending, in postwar U.S. data. In structural VARs, we obtain the consumption “crowding-in puzzle” for surges in public spending and show this consumption response to be accompanied by a persistent increase in disposable income. Endogenously reacting income, however, is insufficient to rationalize conditional comovement of private and public spending: once we hypothetically force (dis)aggregate measures of income to their pre-shock paths, consumption still rises. Corroborating these findings within an external-instruments-identified VAR, which constitutes an adequate laboratory for the simultaneous interplay of financial and macroeconomic time-series, we provide causal evidence of fiscal stimulus prompting households to take on more credit. This favorable debt cycle is paralleled by dropping interest rates, narrowing credit spreads, and inflating collateral prices, e.g., real estate prices, suggesting that softening borrowing constraints support the accumulation of debt and help rationalizing the absence of crowding-out

Observation of centimetre-scale argon diffusion in alkali feldspars: implications for ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar thermochronology

New data from a gem-quality feldspar from Itrongay, Madagascar, record naturally occurring 40Ar/39Ar age profiles which can be numerically modelled by invoking a single diffusion mechanism and show that microtexturally simple crystals are capable of recording complex thermal histories. We present the longest directly measured, naturally produced 40Ar*-closure profiles from a single, homogeneous orthoclase feldspar. These data appear to confirm the assumption that laboratory derived diffusion parameters are valid in nature and over geological timescales. Diffusion domains are defined by crystal faces and ancient cracks, thus in gem-quality feldspars the diffusion domain size equates to the physical grain size. The data also illustrate the potential of large, gem-quality feldspars to record detailed thermal histories over tens of millions of years and such samples should be considered for future studies on the slow cooling of continental crust

Peri-urban land grabbing?:dilemmas of formalising tenure and land acquisitions around the cities of Bamako and Ségou, Mali

This brief note identifies the consequences of land acquisitions in peri-urban spaces around the cities of Bamako and Ségou, Mali. This contributes to debates surrounding the rapid expansion of African cities faced with rapid rural-urban migration and new arrivals settling in precarious conditions. West Africa has a long history of urbanisation, in some cases accompanied by highly productive and intensified land use. It is, therefore, vitally important to question whether formal property rights within peri-urban spaces are a viable option to secure rights for those most marginal and/or recently disposed of their rural land holdings. What are some alternative formalisation mechanisms, which avoid the hazards associated with formal titling, and address the precarious tenure conditions in peri-urban zones

Assessment Of The Impact Of Potential Tetracycline Exposure On The Phenotype Of Aedes Aegypti Ox513a: Implications For Field Use

Background Aedes aegypti is the primary vector of dengue fever, a viral disease which has an estimated incidence of 390 million infections annually. Conventional vector control methods have been unable to curb the transmission of the disease. We have previously reported a novel method of vector control using a tetracycline repressible self-limiting strain of Ae. aegypti OX513A which has achieved > 90% suppression of wild populations. Methodology/Principal Findings We investigated the impact of tetracycline and its analogues on the phenotype of OX513A from the perspective of possible routes and levels of environmental exposure. We determined the minimum concentration of tetracycline and its analogues that will allow an increased survivorship and found these to be greater than the maximum concentration of tetracyclines found in known Ae. aegypti breeding sites and their surrounding areas. Furthermore, we determined that OX513A parents fed tetracycline are unable to pre-load their progeny with sufficient antidote to increase their survivorship. Finally, we studied the changes in concentration of tetracycline in the mass production rearing water of OX513A and the developing insect. Conclusion/Significance Together, these studies demonstrate that potential routes of exposure of OX513A individuals to tetracycline and its analogues in the environment are not expected to increase the survivorship of OX513A.98Oxitec's core investmen

Assignment of the Human and Mouse Prion Protein Genes to Homologous Chromosomes

Purified preparations of scrapie prions contain one major macromolecule, designated prion protein (PrP). Genes encoding PrP are found in normal animals and humans but not within the infectious particles. The PrP gene was assigned to human chromosome 20 and the corresponding mouse chromosome 2 using somatic cell hybrids. In situ hybridization studies mapped the human PrP gene to band 20p12→pter. Our results should lead to studies of genetic loci syntenic with the PrP gene, which may play a role in the pathogenesis of prion diseases or other degenerative neurologic disorders

Karrierekursen er sat – en undersøgelse af et projektorienteret praktikforløb i universitetsregi

I artiklen diskuteres samspillet mellem uddannelse, studerende og aftagermarked i et projektorienteret praktikforløb på universitetet. Denne undersøgelse tager afsæt i en dokumentanalyse og et fokusgruppeinterview foretaget på kandidatuddannelsen i Idrætsvidenskab ved Aarhus Universitet. Analysen viser god overensstemmelse mellem den viden, de færdigheder og kompetencer (VFK) som de studerende anvender og som praktikpladserne efterspørger. Dog bør der sondres mellem generel VFK, der er fundamental i løsningen af virkelighedsnære arbejdsopgaver, og idrætsspecifik VFK, der værdsættes af praktikvejledere, men ikke opfattes som lige nødvendig på alle arbejdspladser. For at opnå gennemskuelige og afstemte forløb opfordres til øget fokus på dialog og involvering af praktikvejledere, og forslag gives til hvordan strukturelle forhold kan understøtte dette. Når teoretisk kernefaglighed på campus konverteres til nøje struktureret opgaveløsning i praksis, påpeges imidlertid en risiko for umyndiggørelse af de studerende og en desavouering af akademia. Denne må holdes for øje i fremadrettet af- og udvikling af projektorienterede praktikforløb på universiteterne