4,492 research outputs found
Crude oil and gasoline prices: an asymmetric relationship?
Gasoline is the petroleum product whose price is most visible and, therefore, always under public scrutiny. Many claim there is an asymmetric relationship between gasoline and oil prices - specifically, gasoline price changes follow oil price changes more quickly when oil prices are rising than when they are falling. To explore this issue, Nathan Balke, Stephen Brown and Mine Yucel use several different model specifications to analyze the relationship between oil prices and the spot, wholesale, and retail prices of gasoline. They find asymmetry is sensitive to model specification but is pervasive with the most general model.Petroleum industry and trade ; Prices
Oil price shocks and the U.S. economy: where does the asymmetry originate?
Rising oil prices appear to retard aggregate U.S. economic activity by more than falling oil prices stimulate it. Past research suggests adjustment costs and/or monetary policy may be possible explanations ofthe asymmetric response. This paper uses a quasi-vector autoregressive model of U. S. economy to examine from where the asymmetry might originate. The analysis uses counterfactual impulse response experiments to detennine that monetary policy alone cannot account for the asymmetry. The robustness ofshort-lived asymmetry across the base case and counterfactuals is consistent with the adjustment-cost explanation.Petroleum industry and trade
An international perspective on oil price shocks and U.S. economic activity
The effect of oil price shocks on U.S. economic activity seems to have changed since the mid-1990s. A variety of explanations have been offered for the seeming change—including better luck, the reduced energy intensity of the U.S. economy, a more flexible economy, more experience with oil price shocks and better monetary policy. These explanations point to a weakening of the relationship between oil prices shocks and economic activity rather than the fundamentally different response that may be evident since the mid-1990s.> ; Using a dynamic stochastic general equilibrium model of world economic activity, we employ Bayesian methods to assess how economic activity responds to oil price shocks arising from supply shocks and demand shocks originating in the United States or elsewhere in the world. We find that both oil supply and oil demand shocks have contributed significantly to oil price fluctuations and that U.S. output fluctuations are derived largely from domestic shocks.Petroleum industry and trade ; Petroleum products - Prices ; International trade ; Economic conditions - United States
Ubiquitylation, neddylation and the DNA damage response.
Failure of accurate DNA damage sensing and repair mechanisms manifests as a variety of human diseases, including neurodegenerative disorders, immunodeficiency, infertility and cancer. The accuracy and efficiency of DNA damage detection and repair, collectively termed the DNA damage response (DDR), requires the recruitment and subsequent post-translational modification (PTM) of a complex network of proteins. Ubiquitin and the ubiquitin-like protein (UBL) SUMO have established roles in regulating the cellular response to DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs). A role for other UBLs, such as NEDD8, is also now emerging. This article provides an overview of the DDR, discusses our current understanding of the process and function of PTM by ubiquitin and NEDD8, and reviews the literature surrounding the role of ubiquitylation and neddylation in DNA repair processes, focusing particularly on DNA DSB repair.J.S.B. is funded by the Wellcome Trust Clinical Fellowship (grant no. 094794/Z/10/Z). Research in the Jackson laboratory is funded by Cancer Research UK programme grant C6/A11224, the European Research Council and the European Community Seventh Framework Programme grant agreement no. HEALTH-F2-2010-259893 (DDResponse). Core funding is provided by CRUK (C6946/A14492) and the Wellcome Trust (WT092096). S.P.J. receives his salary from the University of Cambridge UK, supplemented by CRUK.This is the final published version. It first appeared at http://rsob.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/5/4/150018
On the Canonical Reduction of Spherically Symmetric Gravity
In a thorough paper Kuchar has examined the canonical reduction of the most
general action functional describing the geometrodynamics of the maximally
extended Schwarzschild geometry. This reduction yields the true degrees of
freedom for (vacuum) spherically symmetric general relativity. The essential
technical ingredient in Kuchar's analysis is a canonical transformation to a
certain chart on the gravitational phase space which features the Schwarzschild
mass parameter , expressed in terms of what are essentially
Arnowitt-Deser-Misner variables, as a canonical coordinate. In this paper we
discuss the geometric interpretation of Kuchar's canonical transformation in
terms of the theory of quasilocal energy-momentum in general relativity given
by Brown and York. We find Kuchar's transformation to be a ``sphere-dependent
boost to the rest frame," where the ``rest frame'' is defined by vanishing
quasilocal momentum. Furthermore, our formalism is general enough to cover the
case of (vacuum) two-dimensional dilaton gravity. Therefore, besides reviewing
Kucha\v{r}'s original work for Schwarzschild black holes from the framework of
hyperbolic geometry, we present new results concerning the canonical reduction
of Witten-black-hole geometrodynamics.Comment: Revtex, 35 pages, no figure
A Precision Calculation of the Next-to-Leading Order Energy-Energy Correlation Function
The O(alpha_s^2) contribution to the Energy-Energy Correlation function (EEC)
of e+e- -> hadrons is calculated to high precision and the results are shown to
be larger than previously reported. The consistency with the leading logarithm
approximation and the accurate cancellation of infrared singularities exhibited
by the new calculation suggest that it is reliable. We offer evidence that the
source of the disagreement with previous results lies in the regulation of
double singularities.Comment: 6 pages, uuencoded LaTeX and one eps figure appended Complete paper
as PostScript file (125 kB) available at:
http://www.phys.washington.edu/~clay/eecpaper1/paper.htm
Energy of Isolated Systems at Retarded Times as the Null Limit of Quasilocal Energy
We define the energy of a perfectly isolated system at a given retarded time
as the suitable null limit of the quasilocal energy . The result coincides
with the Bondi-Sachs mass. Our is the lapse-unity shift-zero boundary value
of the gravitational Hamiltonian appropriate for the partial system
contained within a finite topologically spherical boundary . Moreover, we show that with an arbitrary lapse and zero shift the same
null limit of the Hamiltonian defines a physically meaningful element in the
space dual to supertranslations. This result is specialized to yield an
expression for the full Bondi-Sachs four-momentum in terms of Hamiltonian
values.Comment: REVTEX, 16 pages, 1 figur
Can improved canopy light transmission ameliorate loss of photosynthetic efficiency in the shade An investigation of natural variation in Sorghum bicolor
Previous studies have found that maximum quantum yield of CO2 assimilation (φCO2,max,app) declines in lower canopies of maize and miscanthus, a maladaptive response to self-shading. These observations were limited to single genotypes, leaving it unclear whether the maladaptive shade response is a general property of this C4 grass tribe, the Andropogoneae. We explored the generality of this maladaptation by testing the hypothesis that erect leaf forms (erectophiles), which allow more light into the lower canopy, suffer less of a decline in photosynthetic efficiency than drooping leaf (planophile) forms. On average, φCO2,max,app declined 27% in lower canopy leaves across 35 accessions, but the decline was over twice as great in planophiles than in erectophiles. The loss of photosynthetic efficiency involved a decoupling between electron transport and assimilation. This was not associated with increased bundle sheath leakage, based on 13C measurements. In both planophiles and erectophiles, shaded leaves had greater leaf absorptivity and lower activities of key C4 enzymes than sun leaves. The erectophile form is considered more productive because it allows a more effective distribution of light through the canopy to support photosynthesis. We show that in sorghum, it provides a second benefit, maintenance of higher φCO2,max,app to support efficient use of that light resource
Molecular elasticity and the geometric phase
We present a method for solving the Worm Like Chain (WLC) model for twisting
semiflexible polymers to any desired accuracy. We show that the WLC free energy
is a periodic function of the applied twist with period 4 pi. We develop an
analogy between WLC elasticity and the geometric phase of a spin half system.
These analogies are used to predict elastic properties of twist-storing
polymers. We graphically display the elastic response of a single molecule to
an applied torque. This study is relevant to mechanical properties of
biopolymers like DNA.Comment: five pages, one figure, revtex, revised in the light of referee's
comments, to appear in PR
The effect of finite-range interactions in classical transport theory
The effect of scattering with non-zero impact parameters between consituents
in relativistic heavy ion collisions is investigated. In solving the
relativistic Boltzmann equation, the characteristic range of the collision
kernel is varied from approximately one fm to zero while leaving the mean-free
path unchanged. Modifying this range is shown to significantly affect spectra
and flow observables. The finite range is shown to provide effective
viscosities, shear, bulk viscosity and heat conductivity, with the viscous
coefficients being proportional to the square of the interaction range
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