Phillips curves, monetary policy, and a labor market transmission mechanism

This paper develops a general equilibrium monetary model with performance incentives to study the inflation-unemployment relationship. A long-run downward-sloping Phillips curve can exist with perfectly anticipated inflation because workers’ incentive to exert effort depend on financial market returns. Consequently, higher inflation rates can reduce wages and stimulate employment. An upward-sloping or vertical Phillips Curve can arise instead, depending on agents’ risk aversion and the possibility of capital formation. Welfare might be higher away from the Friedman rule and with a central bank putting some weight on employment.Phillips curve ; Labor market ; Monetary policy ; Wages

Elucidation of the functional role of oligopeptide transporters in bacterial virulence

Abstract only availableThe oligopeptide transporter (OPT) family is a relatively poorly characterized family of peptide/modified peptide transporters found in archebacteria, bacteria, fungi and plants. Plant and yeast OPTs were shown to transport tetra- and pentapeptides as well as the modified peptide glutathione. Our database analysis of sequenced bacterial genomes indicated that OPT proteins are encoded in the genomes of important human pathogens such as Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Mycobacterium tuberculosis, Neisseria meningitidis, and Haemophilus influenzae. However, functional analysis of this family of peptide transporters, especially their possible function in bacterial pathogenesis, is lacking. We obtained three P. aeruginosa strains harboring transposon insertions in the PA3934 locus, the gene predicted to encode the putative orthologous OPT protein (OptA) in P. aeruginosa PA01. Two of the optA mutant strains have in-frame fusion between PaOptA and the PhoA protein encoded within the transposon. Expression of OptA-PhoA is induced by the addition of 20 mM arginine, whereas the expression of OptA-PhoA is not affected by iron availability. The lack of iron-regulated expression of optA would indicate that it is unlikely involved in iron nutrition in P. aeruginosa. We also found that 20 mM arginine and 0.4% peptone enhanced biofilm formation by wild type PA01 strain. However, enhanced biofilm formation by arginine was not observed in the optA mutant strains. Addition of 20 mM lysine had no effect on biofilm formation. We also determined the possible function of OptA in the ability of P. aeruginosa to produce pyocyanin. We found that the optA mutant strains produced higher amounts of pyocyanin than the wild type strain. The presence or absence of arginine in the growth medium had no effect on pyocyanin production. Taken together, these results indicate that OptA is important for biofilm formation by P. aeruginosa in response to arginine and peptides, but is unlikely involved in pyocyanin production.NSF grant to G. Stace

Clean Water for Less Integrated Planning Reduces the Cost of Meeting Water Quality Goals in New Hampshire

Rising populations and increased development in New Hampshire coastal communities have led to a decline in water quality in the Great Bay Estuary. Responding effectively and affordably to new federal permit requirements for treating and discharging stormwater and wastewater will require innovative solutions from communities in the area. The Water Integration for Squamscott-Exeter (WISE) project developed an integrated planning framework through which the coastal communities of Exeter, Stratham, and Newfields could significantly reduce the cost of meeting permit requirements. In this brief, authors Alison Watts, Robert Roseen, Paul Stacey, Renee Bourdeau, and Theresa Walker report that integrated planning could save these communities over $100 million (in fifty-year lifecycle costs) by prioritizing high-impact, low-cost mitigation strategies across permit type and town boundaries. The project, which has received an Environmental Merit award from Environment Protection Agency, also found that attainment of water quality standards in the Exeter–Squamscott River will not be possible without substantial cooperation and investment from upstream communities, which are not currently subject to EPA permit requirements. Collaboration among communities in planning and implementing projects to meet clean water regulations can have significant cost and effectiveness benefits

Merger, Akusisi dan Konsolidasi dalam Perspektif Hukum Persaingan Usaha

Mergers, acquisitions and consolidation is a business strategy that is commonly used in the business world to be able to build competitive advantage company, which in time can enhance shareholder value while maximizing the prosperity of the company owners or shareholders. To achieve the above objective normative, policy-makers need a plan and steps of strategic and accurate information to avoid the risk of failure. However, the strategy of merger, acquisition and consolidation of certain potentially inhibit fair competition conditions, thus becoming one of the objects that need to be regulated in Law no. 5 Year 1999 concerning Prohibition of Monopolistic Practices and Unfair Business Competition. Market impact of mergers, acquisitions and consolidation is important for analysis because it can have significant legal consequences for businesses, so that the research method used is the juridical normative and empirical approaches. In practice of mergers, acquisitions and consolidation intersect with regulation in other sectors, especially banking and capital markets. That is, there should be equality of perception and interpretation among the institutions that issued the policy

The Relationship Among Leadership Preparation Practices and Leader, School, and Student Outcomes in K-8 Schools

This study examined the relationships among leader preparation practices and leader, school, and student outcomes through hierarchical regression analysis of questionnaire (N = 88) and state data. The findings suggest that, after controlling for demographics, a significant (p \u3c .05) positive relationship was found between preparation practices and leader behavior (Δ R2 = .05); preparation practices and student achievement (Δ R2 = .05); preparation practices and leaders’ instructional knowledge (Δ R2 = .06); and leaders’ instructional knowledge and instruction practices in schools (Δ R2 = .05). These findings suggest the further inclusion of the essential practices into preparation programs

Wildfire as a natural stressor and its effect on female phenotype and ornament development

Controlled low-intensity fires are commonly used in ecosystem management for both habitat restoration and wildfire management. Animals in those ecosystems may respond to fire by shifting energy allocation away from reproduction and growth, and toward maintenance. Stress-induced shifts in energy allocation may affect the expression of condition-dependent sexual signals, which are sensitive to energetic and physiological trade-offs mediated by glucocorticoids. Here, we examine the effect of fire on ornament expression, corticosterone, and other phenotypic traits in a population of striped plateau lizards, Sceloporus virgatus, affected by the Horseshoe 2 Fire in the Chiricahua Mountains, Arizona, USA. The condition-dependent female ornament was significantly smaller the month following the fire than 2 years prior and was both smaller and less orange on the burned site relative to a nearby unburned site. These patterns are similar to those found in a previous experimental study examining the response of the ornament to corticosterone manipulations. Yet, in the current study, corticosterone levels were not different in lizards on the burned and unburned sites. Perhaps glucocorticoid levels already returned to baseline, or do not adequately track environmental change. Females tended to be smaller and lighter on the burned site than the unburned site; however, the year after the fire, body condition was higher for females on the burned site, indicating a rapid recovery and potential long-term benefits in response to low-intensity fires in this fire-adapted ecosystem. We found that the lizards adjusted energy allocation away from sexual signaling and growth in response to low-intensity fires. As fires and fire management are likely to increase in response to changing fire regimes across the globe, it will be important to consider behavioral and physiological responses of impacted species, as well as population-, community-, and ecosystem-level responses

Critical evaluation of the neoclassical model for the equilibrium electrostatic field in a tokamak

The neoclassical prescription to use an equation of motion to determine the electrostatic field within a tokamak plasma is fraught with difficulties. Herein we examine two popular expressions for the equilibrium electrostatic field so determined and show that one fails to withstand a formal scrutiny thereof while the other fails to respect the vector nature of the diamagnetic current. Reconsideration of the justification for the presence of the equilibrium electrostatic field indicates that no field is needed for a neutral plasma when considering the net bound current defined as the curl of the magnetization. With any shift in the toroidal magnetic flux distribution, a dynamic electric field is generated with both radial and poloidal components, providing an alternate explanation for any measurements thereof.Comment: 13 pages, 2 figures, moderate revision, final version, edited for length, to appear in MR

Processing LiDAR Data to Predict Natural Hazards

ELF-Base and ELF-Hazards (wherein 'ELF' signifies 'Extract LiDAR Features' and 'LiDAR' signifies 'light detection and ranging') are developmental software modules for processing remote-sensing LiDAR data to identify past natural hazards (principally, landslides) and predict future ones. ELF-Base processes raw LiDAR data, including LiDAR intensity data that are often ignored in other software, to create digital terrain models (DTMs) and digital feature models (DFMs) with sub-meter accuracy. ELF-Hazards fuses raw LiDAR data, data from multispectral and hyperspectral optical images, and DTMs and DFMs generated by ELF-Base to generate hazard risk maps. Advanced algorithms in these software modules include line-enhancement and edge-detection algorithms, surface-characterization algorithms, and algorithms that implement innovative data-fusion techniques. The line-extraction and edge-detection algorithms enable users to locate such features as faults and landslide headwall scarps. Also implemented in this software are improved methodologies for identification and mapping of past landslide events by use of (1) accurate, ELF-derived surface characterizations and (2) three LiDAR/optical-data-fusion techniques: post-classification data fusion, maximum-likelihood estimation modeling, and hierarchical within-class discrimination. This software is expected to enable faster, more accurate forecasting of natural hazards than has previously been possible

Age-specific mortality during the 1918 influenza pandemic: unravelling the mystery of high young adult mortality.

The worldwide spread of a novel influenza A (H1N1) virus in 2009 showed that influenza remains a significant health threat, even for individuals in the prime of life. This paper focuses on the unusually high young adult mortality observed during the Spanish flu pandemic of 1918. Using historical records from Canada and the U.S., we report a peak of mortality at the exact age of 28 during the pandemic and argue that this increased mortality resulted from an early life exposure to influenza during the previous Russian flu pandemic of 1889-90. We posit that in specific instances, development of immunological memory to an influenza virus strain in early life may lead to a dysregulated immune response to antigenically novel strains encountered in later life, thereby increasing the risk of death. Exposure during critical periods of development could also create holes in the T cell repertoire and impair fetal maturation in general, thereby increasing mortality from infectious diseases later in life. Knowledge of the age-pattern of susceptibility to mortality from influenza could improve crisis management during future influenza pandemics