Totally Implantable Bidirectional Neural Prostheses: A Flexible Platform for Innovation in Neuromodulation.

Implantable neural prostheses are in widespread use for treating a variety of brain disorders. Until recently, most implantable brain devices have been unidirectional, either delivering neurostimulation without brain sensing, or sensing brain activity to drive external effectors without a stimulation component. Further, many neural interfaces that incorporate a sensing function have relied on hardwired connections, such that subjects are tethered to external computers and cannot move freely. A new generation of neural prostheses has become available, that are both bidirectional (stimulate as well as record brain activity) and totally implantable (no externalized connections). These devices provide an opportunity for discovering the circuit basis for neuropsychiatric disorders, and to prototype personalized neuromodulation therapies that selectively interrupt neural activity underlying specific signs and symptoms

Contributions of economists to the housing-price bubble

After the bursting of the housing-price bubble in 2006 and ensuing financial crisis, there has been much discussion of what economists could have done differently to help avert the crisis and "Great Recession" that followed. One dimension of this concerns information supplied by economists to the general public about causes of high appreciation in home prices and their likely future course, as good information could have helped the public hedge their finances against downside risks while bad information may have encouraged them to take on too much risk. This paper analyzes data from 24 California newspapers on assessments and predictions offered by economists as to whether bubbles were forming in the state's housing markets. In brief, we find that the California public was fairly decently served by economists offering their views via the media -- although with some significant problems of biased forecasts not made in good faith, and of inattention to concerns about "harm avoidance" that ought to apply when economists share their opinions in this way.JEL classification: R21, D31, D12, E32

SUN/KASH interactions facilitate force transmission across the nuclear envelope.

LINC complexes (Linker of Nucleoskeleton and Cytoskeleton), consisting of inner nuclear membrane SUN (Sad1, UNC-84) proteins and outer nuclear membrane KASH (Klarsicht, ANC-1, and Syne Homology) proteins, are essential for nuclear positioning, cell migration and chromosome dynamics. To test the in vivo functions of conserved interfaces revealed by crystal structures, Cain et al used a combination of Caenorhabditis elegans genetics, imaging in cultured NIH 3T3 fibroblasts, and Molecular Dynamic simulations, to study SUN-KASH interactions. Conserved aromatic residues at the -7 position of the C-termini of KASH proteins and conserved disulfide bonds in LINC complexes play important roles in force transmission across the nuclear envelope. Other properties of LINC complexes, such as the helices preceding the SUN domain, the longer coiled-coils spanning the perinuclear space and higher-order organization may also function to transmit mechanical forces generated by the cytoskeleton across the nuclear envelope

Distributional costs of the housing-price bust

In considering whether asset-price bubbles should be offset through policy, an important issue is who pays the price when the bubble bursts. A bust that reduces the wealth of well-off households only may have small welfare costs, but costs may be sizable if broad swaths of households are affected. This paper uses micro data from the American Community Survey to examine how the recent housing bust affected households' employment, homeownership, home values, and housing costs. To separate dynamics of the housing bust from those of the aggregate downturn, we differentiate between metropolitan areas that did and did not experience bubbles. We find that, for most measures, deteriorations in well-being were more severe in bubble metros than elsewhere, and for several measures, differential effects on less-educated households were also more severe. This underscores the importance of keeping housing markets from overheating, as burdens of adjustment fall differentially on people not well prepared to bear them.JEL classification: R21, D31, D12, E32