The competition effect in business cycles : [Version 21 März 2012]

How do changes in market structure affect the US business cycle? We estimate a monetary DSGE model with endogenous rm/product entry and a translog expenditure function by Bayesian methods. The dynamics of net business formation allow us to identify the 'competition effect', by which desired price markups and inflation decrease when entry rises. We find that a 1 percent increase in the number of competitors lowers desired markups by 0.18 percent. Most of the cyclical variability in inflation is driven by markup fluctuations due to sticky prices or exogenous shocks rather than endogenous changes in desired markups

Icing and De-Icing of a Propeller with Internal Electric Blade Heaters

An investigation has been made in the NACA Cleveland icing research tunnel to determine the de-icing effectiveness of an experimental configuration of an Internal electric propeller-blade heater. Two atmospheric Icing conditions and two propeller operating conditions were Investigated, In experiments with unheated blades and with heat applied to the blades both continuously and cyclically. Data are presented to show the effect of propeller speed., ambient air temperature and liquid-water concentration, and the duration of the heat-on and cycle times on the power requirements and de-Icing performance of the blade heaters. The extent of ice-covered area on the blades for various icing ax4 operating conditions has been determined. The largest iced area was obtained at the higher ambient-air temperatures and at low propeller speed. The ohord.wise extent of Icing In practically every case was greater than that covered by blade heaters. Adequate de-icing in the heated area with continuous application of heat was obtained with the power available but a maximum power, input of 1250 watts per blade was insufficient for cyclic de-Icing for the range of conditions investigated. Blade-surface temperature rates of rise of 0.2 to 0.7 F per second were obtained and the minimum cooling period for cyclic de-icing was found to be approximately 2-1/2 times the heating period

James Joyce’s Modernist Dublin: Leopold Bloom and the Critical Eye of Ulysses’ Outsider

This paper analyses the ways in which Leopold Bloom critiques Dublin city life from his position as the excluded outsider figure of James Joyce’s Ulysses. Consideration will be given to Bloom’s engagement with Dublin and its transformation into a cosmopolitan city, its effect on Irish identity and consciousness, and its relationship with the Catholic Church. Finally, an attempt will be made to situate the ruminations of Ulysses’ hero within a wider context of a distinct Irish modernist movement that, as Ronan McDonald suggests, offered an “outright hostile response to essentialist ideas of […] Ireland or Irishness” as was previously “advanced by the Irish revival at the fin-de-siècle” (178). The prevailing question at hand, then, is this: how does Bloom’s critique of a modernising Dublin, from the position of the cultural outsider, coincide with the wider concerns of an Irish modernist movement that was responding to ideas laid out by their nationalist forebearers

Trace gas transport in the subsurface of Mars

The ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO) will have the capability of detecting and characterizing a broad suite of trace gases in the atmosphere of Mars. Interpreting the results of this mission will require an understanding of how these trace gases are transported from their sources, which may be deep underground, to the atmosphere. Here we present results of modeling designed to measure the timescales of release from putative subsurface methane sources. These transport timescales are far longer than mixing times in the atmosphere and could be up to 10 million years

Lethal Parasites in Oysters from Coastal Georgia with Discussion of Disease and Management Implications

Extensive mortalities of oysters, Crassostrea virginica, occurred from 1985 through 1987 in coastal waters of Georgia. Fluid thioglycolate cultures of oysters collected from 16 of 17 locations revealed infections by the apicomplexan parasite Perkinsus marinus. An ascetosporan parasite, Haplosporidium nelsoni, was also observed in histopathological examination of oysters from 4 of the locations. While the range of H. nelsoni currently is recognized as the east coast of the United States from Maine to Florida, this is the first report of the parasite in Georgia waters. This paper documents the occurrence of these two lethal parasites in oysters from coastal waters of Georgia, along with potential disease and management implications. Results of an earlier independent and previously unpublished survey are also discussed which document the presence of P. marinus in Georgia as early as 1966

Making local knowledge matter: Supporting non-literate people to monitor poaching in Congo

This paper describes a project initiated by non-literate indigenous people to equip their own “citizen scientists” with rugged smartphones running adapted software that enable them to share some of their detailed environmental knowledge in ways that improve the sustainable management of their forest. Supporting local people to share their environmental knowledge in scientifically valid and strategically targeted ways can lead to improvement in environmental governance, environmental justice and management practices. Mbendjele hunter-gatherers in the rainforests of Congo are working together with the ExCiteS Research Group at University College London to make their local knowledge about commercial hunters’ activities improve the control of commercial hunters and diminish the harassment they often experience at the hands of “eco-guards” who enforce hunting regulations. Developing and deploying a system for non-literate users introduces a range of challenges that we have tried to solve. Our Anti-Poaching data collection platform, running on Android smartphones, is based on a decision tree of pictorial icons and employs various smartphone sensors to augment observations. We describe its development here

Community mapping by non-literate citizen scientists in the rainforest

Supporting local communities to share their environmental knowledge by utilizing scientifically accepted tools and methodologies can lead to improvement in environmental governance, environmental justice and management practices. Mbendjele hunter-gatherers in the rainforests of Congo are collaborating with the ExCiteS Research Group at University College London to record their local knowledge about illegal poaching activities, which will improve the control of commercial hunters and diminish the harassment they often experience at the hands of 'eco-guards' who enforce hunting regulations. Developing and deploying a system for non-literate users introduces a range of challenges that we have tried to tackle with our Anti-Poaching data collection platform