Monetary policy strategy in a global environment

Since the mid-1980s the world economy has gone through profound transformations of which the sources and effects are probably not yet completely understood. The process of continuous integration in trade, production and financial markets across countries and economic regions—which is what is generally defined as "globalisation"—affects directly the conduct of monetary policy in a variety of respects. The aim of this paper is to present an overview of the structural implications of globalisation for the domestic economies of developed countries and to deduct from these implications lessons for the conduct of monetary policy, and in particular the assessment of risks to price stability.Globalization ; Monetary policy ; Inflation (Finance) ; International finance ; International trade

Monetary policy strategy in a global environment

This paper discusses the structural implications of real and financial globalisation, with the aim of drawing lessons for the conduct of monetary policy and, in particular, for the assessment of risks to price stability. The first conclusion of the paper is that globalisation may have played only a limited role in reducing inflation and output volatility in developed economies. Central banks should remain focused on their mandate to preserve price stability. However, the globalisation of financial markets over the last 25 years has had major implications for the conduct of monetary policy. Four elements characterise the new financial landscape: the decline in the “home bias”; the increase in the size of international financial transactions relative to transactions in goods and services; the increase in the number of countries adopting inflation targeting and currency peg monetary regimes; and the transformation of financial market microstructure. The paper argues that in this new environment monetary policy should systematically incorporate financial analysis into its assessment of the risks to price stability. Monetary policy should “lean against the wind” of asset price bubbles that could burst at a high cost and hinder the maintenance of macroeconomic and financial stability. Further, in view of the interlinkages among financial markets worldwide, macro-financial surveillance at the international level needs to be strengthened and monetary policymakers need to cooperate and exchange information on a wider scale and at a deeper level with financial supervisors. Finally, the paper reviews the rationale for a central bank to act (in concert with other central banks) as the ultimate provider of liquidity to financial markets in situations of extreme instability and market malfunctioning. A sudden and sharp liquidity drought in the market should be tackled with appropriate measures that could even go beyond the extraordinary refinancing of monetary and financial institutions. In these circumstances, the central bank should clearly communicate that the aim of its liquidity provision measures is to support the proper functioning of financial markets, and that they do not indicate a change in the monetary policy stance (“separation principle”). JEL Classification: E44, E58, F33, F42.Globalisation, Monetary policy, Asset prices, Financial markets.

Dauvieau Jérôme & Terrail Jean-Pierre (présentation et choix de textes par). Les sociologues, l’école & la transmission des savoirs : Bautier, Bernstein, Bourdieu, Grospiron, Isambert-Jamati, Keddie, Lahire, Rochex, Tanguy, Young

« Serait-il exagéré d’affirmer que la sociologie de la transmission des savoirs est le parent pauvre de la sociologie de l’éducation ? » Voilà la question de départ (p. 9) de cet ouvrage de plus de 300 pages qui se présente comme un recueil de huit textes d’auteurs français et anglais dont la pensée est déclarée faire référence dans ce que nous nommerons par la suite la sociologie des curricula, i. e. une réflexion sur les contenus d’enseignement et les cursus scolaires, leur mode de structur..

Mangez Éric. Réformer les contenus d’enseignement

Qu’on ne se méprenne pas sur le titre de cet ouvrage qui semble, au premier coup d’œil, impératif, normatif ou en tout cas programmatique en matière de réforme de contenus d’enseignement. Au contraire, comme le souligne l’auteur dès l’introduction, « le point de vue sociologique n’a pas pour ambition première d’apporter une réponse aux tensions relatives au curriculum ou, plus largement, à la pédagogie ; il n’a pas pour vocation de trancher de tels débats mais plutôt de les comprendre, de leu..

Mangez Éric. Réformer les contenus d’enseignement

Qu’on ne se méprenne pas sur le titre de cet ouvrage qui semble, au premier coup d’œil, impératif, normatif ou en tout cas programmatique en matière de réforme de contenus d’enseignement. Au contraire, comme le souligne l’auteur dès l’introduction, « le point de vue sociologique n’a pas pour ambition première d’apporter une réponse aux tensions relatives au curriculum ou, plus largement, à la pédagogie ; il n’a pas pour vocation de trancher de tels débats mais plutôt de les comprendre, de leu..

An observational upper limit on the rate of gamma-ray bursts with neutron star-black hole merger progenitors

Compact-object binary mergers consisting of one neutron star and one black hole (NSBHs) have long been considered promising progenitors for gamma-ray bursts, whose central engine remains poorly understood. Using gravitational-wave constraints on the population-level NSBH mass and spin distributions we find that at most $20~\mathrm{Gpc}^{-3}\mathrm{yr}^{-1}$ of gamma-ray bursts in the local universe can have NSBH progenitors.Comment: Submitted to RNAA

Thermal and Electromagnetic Properties of Polymer Holey Structures Produced by Additive Manufacturing

Multifunctional 3D-printed holey structures made of composite polymers loaded with nanocarbon were designed to serve simultaneously as GHz-radiation absorbing layers and heat conductors. The geometry of the structures was devised to allow heat to be easily transferred through, with special attention paid to thermal conductivity. Numerical calculations and a simple homogenization theory were conducted in parallel to address this property. Different structures have been considered and compared. The electromagnetic shielding effectiveness of the produced holey structures was measured in the microwave range

The small molecule ephrin receptor inhibitor, GLPG1790, Reduces renewal capabilities of cancer stem cells, showing anti-tumour efficacy on preclinical glioblastoma models

Therapies against glioblastoma (GBM) show a high percentage of failure associated with the survival of glioma stem cells (GSCs) that repopulate treated tumours. Forced differentiation of GSCs is a promising new approach in cancer treatment. Erythropoietin-producing hepatocellular (Eph) receptors drive tumourigenicity and stemness in GBM. We tested GLPG1790, a first small molecule with inhibition activity versus inhibitor of various Eph receptor kinases, in preclinical GBM models using in vitro and in vivo assays. GLPG1790 rapidly and persistently inhibited Ephrin-A1-mediated phosphorylation of Tyr588 and Ser897, completely blocking EphA2 receptor signalling. Similarly, this compound blocks the ephrin B2-mediated EphA3 and EphB4 tyrosine phosphorylation. This resulted in anti-glioma effects. GLPG1790 down-modulated the expression of mesenchymal markers CD44, Sox2, nestin, octamer-binding transcription factor 3/4 (Oct3/4), Nanog, CD90, and CD105, and up-regulated that of glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) and pro-neural/neuronal markers, βIII tubulin, and neurofilaments. GLPG1790 reduced tumour growth in vivo. These effects were larger compared to radiation therapy (RT; U251 and T98G xenografts) and smaller than those of temozolomide (TMZ; U251 and U87MG cell models). By contrast, GLPG1790 showed effects that were higher than Radiotherapy (RT) and similar to Temozolomide (TMZ) in orthotopic U87MG and CSCs-5 models in terms of disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS). Further experiments were necessary to study possible interactions with radio- and chemotherapy. GLPG1790 demonstrated anti-tumor effects regulating both the differentiative status of Glioma Initiating Cells (GICs) and the quality of tumor microenvironment, translating into efficacy in aggressive GBM mouse models. Significant common molecular targets to radio and chemo therapy supported the combination use of GLPG1790 in ameliorative antiglioma therapy

Improved semiconducting CuO/CuFe2O4 nanostructured thin films for CO2 gas sensing

Promising results on the behavior of CuO/CuFe2O4sputtered thin films as a sensing material under carbondioxide atmospheres are presented in this article. More specifically, we report the effects of preparationparameters and microstructure of the sensing layer on the response to CO2. FEG-SEM images and XPSmeasurements revealed the two-stacked layers rearrangement of samples after air annealing as a keyparameter in gas sensing test. The influence of the sensing layer thickness and the influence of Ag as anadditive in the film on the response are also reported. The best response was obtained at the optimaloperating temperature of 250◦C with a thin film deposited under low argon pressure and low target-to-substrate distance, reaching 40% towards 5000 ppm of CO2

Inhibition of Chk1 Kills Tetraploid Tumor Cells through a p53-Dependent Pathway

Tetraploidy constitutes an adaptation to stress and an intermediate step between euploidy and aneuploidy in oncogenesis. Tetraploid cells are particularly resistant against genotoxic stress including radiotherapy and chemotherapy. Here, we designed a strategy to preferentially kill tetraploid tumor cells. Depletion of checkpoint kinase-1 (Chk1) by siRNAs, transfection with dominant-negative Chk1 mutants or pharmacological Chk1 inhibition killed tetraploid colon cancer cells yet had minor effects on their diploid counterparts. Chk1 inhibition abolished the spindle assembly checkpoint and caused premature and abnormal mitoses that led to p53 activation and cell death at a higher frequency in tetraploid than in diploid cells. Similarly, abolition of the spindle checkpoint by knockdown of Bub1, BubR1 or Mad2 induced p53-dependent apoptosis of tetraploid cells. Chk1 inhibition reversed the cisplatin resistance of tetraploid cells in vitro and in vivo, in xenografted human cancers. Chk1 inhibition activated p53-regulated transcripts including Puma/BBC3 in tetraploid but not in diploid tumor cells. Altogether, our results demonstrate that, in tetraploid tumor cells, the inhibition of Chk1 sequentially triggers aberrant mitosis, p53 activation and Puma/BBC3-dependent mitochondrial apoptosis