Toward Creating a Regional Monetary Arrangement in East Asia

The idea of an Asian Monetary Fund (AMF), which was first raised in 1997, culminated in an agreement among the finance ministers of ASEAN plus PRC, Japan, and Korea (ASEAN+3) to establish a system of swap arrangements among their countries in what is known as the Chiang Mai Initiative (CMI) on May 6, 2000. Policymakers of the ASEAN+3 have made considerable progress over the past three years in increasing the availability of liquidity as they have succeeded in contracting a number of bilateral swaps and establishing informal mechanisms of policy dialogues and reviews among the ASEAN+3. However, the CMI is in an embryonic stage of development, and as such requires a great deal of expansion and consolidation to serve as an efficient regional liquidity support system. This paper analyzes possibilities of, and prospects for, constructing a regional financial arrangement in East Asia by augmenting liquidity support and broadening the scope of cooperation through the CMI. Through an evolutionary process of enlargement and consolidation of the CMI, this study envisions creation of a possible Asian Monetary Fund that is complete with financial support facilities, a monitoring and surveillance mechanism, and a regional collective exchange rate system with a view to adopting a common currency as a long-term objective. A detailed proposal for an operational structure of the CMI is presented. Issues related to surveillance and regional exchange rate policy cooperation are also analyzed

Energy-Based Models for Anomaly Detection: A Manifold Diffusion Recovery Approach

We present a new method of training energy-based models (EBMs) for anomaly detection that leverages low-dimensional structures within data. The proposed algorithm, Manifold Projection-Diffusion Recovery (MPDR), first perturbs a data point along a low-dimensional manifold that approximates the training dataset. Then, EBM is trained to maximize the probability of recovering the original data. The training involves the generation of negative samples via MCMC, as in conventional EBM training, but from a different distribution concentrated near the manifold. The resulting near-manifold negative samples are highly informative, reflecting relevant modes of variation in data. An energy function of MPDR effectively learns accurate boundaries of the training data distribution and excels at detecting out-of-distribution samples. Experimental results show that MPDR exhibits strong performance across various anomaly detection tasks involving diverse data types, such as images, vectors, and acoustic signals.Comment: NeurIPS 202

Transport Through Andreev Bound States in a Graphene Quantum Dot

Andreev reflection-where an electron in a normal metal backscatters off a superconductor into a hole-forms the basis of low energy transport through superconducting junctions. Andreev reflection in confined regions gives rise to discrete Andreev bound states (ABS), which can carry a supercurrent and have recently been proposed as the basis of qubits [1-3]. Although signatures of Andreev reflection and bound states in conductance have been widely reported [4], it has been difficult to directly probe individual ABS. Here, we report transport measurements of sharp, gate-tunable ABS formed in a superconductor-quantum dot (QD)-normal system, which incorporates graphene. The QD exists in the graphene under the superconducting contact, due to a work-function mismatch [5, 6]. The ABS form when the discrete QD levels are proximity coupled to the superconducting contact. Due to the low density of states of graphene and the sensitivity of the QD levels to an applied gate voltage, the ABS spectra are narrow, can be tuned to zero energy via gate voltage, and show a striking pattern in transport measurements.Comment: 25 Pages, included SO

International Monetary Reform: A Critical Appraisal of Some Proposals

This paper reviews some of the current debates on the reform of the international monetary system. Despite its deficiencies, the United States (US) dollar will remain the dominant currency and Special Drawing Rights (SDR) cannot serve as either an international medium of exchange or a reserve currency. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has changed its position to accept capital controls under certain circumstances. Refining control instruments better tuned to present day markets may bring about greater acceptance. The 2008-2009 global financial crisis has dimmed much of the earlier hope for the multilateralized Chiang Mai Initiative. The currency swap arrangements portend a new form of international cooperation. Finally, for the Group of Twenty (G20) to matter, the systemically important countries need to ensure the stability of their financial systems and economies

Indefinite and Bidirectional Near Infrared Nanocrystal Photoswitching

Materials whose luminescence can be switched by optical stimulation drive technologies ranging from superresolution imaging1-4, nanophotonics5, and optical data storage6-8, to targeted pharmacology, optogenetics, and chemical reactivity9. These photoswitchable probes, including organic fluorophores and proteins, are prone to photodegradation, and often require phototoxic doses of ultraviolet (UV) or visible light. Colloidal inorganic nanoparticles have significant stability advantages over existing photoswitchable materials, but the ability to switch emission bidirectionally, particularly with NIR light, has not been reported with nanoparticles. Here, we present 2-way, near-infrared (NIR) photoswitching of avalanching nanoparticles (ANPs), showing full optical control of upconverted emission using phototriggers in the NIR-I and NIR-II spectral regions useful for subsurface imaging. Employing single-step photodarkening10-13 and photobrightening12,14-18, we demonstrate indefinite photoswitching of individual nanoparticles (>1000 cycles over 7 h) in ambient or aqueous conditions without measurable photodegradation. Critical steps of the photoswitching mechanism are elucidated by modeling and by measuring the photon avalanche properties of single ANPs in both bright and dark states. Unlimited, reversible photoswitching of ANPs enables indefinitely rewritable 2D and 3D multi-level optical patterning of ANPs, as well as optical nanoscopy with sub-{\AA} localization superresolution that allows us to distinguish individual ANPs within tightly packed clusters.Comment: 15 pages, 5 figure

The Global Financial Crisis: Decoupling of East Asia – Myth or Reality?

The decoupling of East Asia from its economic interactions - both in trade and finance - with the rest of the world refers to the phenomenon of a weakening of the impact of demand and supply shocks emanating from the advanced countries on the region's economic performance since the early 1990s. Available empirical evidence, including the faster recovery of East Asia from the 2008 global economic crisis, does not appear to lend credence to the decoupling thesis. However, with increases in income throughout the region and the three free trade agreements (FTAs) of the People's Republic of China (PRC), Japan, and Korea with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) (which have entered into force), East Asia will witness a continuing expansion in intra-regional trade, much of which will consist of horizontal intra-industry trade. At the same time, if East Asia succeeds in instituting an efficient capital control regime and in strengthening the Chiang Mai Initiative Multilateralization (CMIM), it will be able to cope better with the volatility of capital flows to the region. Together these developments will then help speed up economic integration among ASEAN+3 member states to build a region that is more self-contained than it has been

The impact of communication information on the perceived threat of COVID-19 and stockpiling intention

This article investigates the role of diverse nudging communication strategies on perceived threat and stockpiling intention. Across three studies, the authors examined the various effects of “nudging” on consumer behavior. Study 1 demonstrates that a commonly used picture has a stronger impact on perceived threat than a less frequently exposed picture regardless of its accuracy. Study 2 shows that the perceived threat of COVID-19, in terms of severe health consequences, is lower when using an indirect (vs. direct) explanation of the virus, as well as when reducing the amount of information about the virus. Study 3 investigates the impact of salient negative information and childhood socioeconomic status (SES). Findings reveal that negative information about deaths associated with the virus increases the level of perceived threat and stockpiling intention, especially among people of low childhood SES

A Mumps Outbreak in Vojvodina, Serbia, in 2012 Underlines the Need for Additional Vaccination Opportunities for Young Adults

In 2012, mumps was introduced from Bosnia and Herzegovina to Vojvodina, causing an outbreak with 335 reported cases. The present manuscript analyses the epidemiological and laboratory characteristics of this outbreak, identifies its main causes and suggests potential future preventive measures. Sera of 133 patients were tested for mumps-specific antibodies by ELISA and 15 nose/throat swabs were investigated for mumps virus RNA by RT-PCR. IgG antibodies were found in 127 patients (95.5%). Mumps infection was laboratory-confirmed in 53 patients, including 44 IgM and 9 PCR positive cases. All other 282 cases were classified as epidemiologically-confirmed. More than half of the patients (n = 181, 54%) were 20-29 years old, followed by the 15-19 age bracket (n = 95, 28.4%). Twice as many males as females were affected (67% versus 33%). Disease complications were reported in 13 cases (3.9%), including 9 patients with orchitis and 4 with pancreatitis. According to medical records or anamnestic data, 190 patients (56.7%) were immunized with two doses and 35 (10.4%) with one dose of mumps-containing vaccine. The Serbian sequences corresponded to a minor genotype G variant detected during the 2011/2012 mumps outbreak in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Vaccine failures, the initial one-dose immunization policy and a vaccine shortage between 1999 and 2002 contributed to the outbreak. Additional vaccination opportunities should be offered to young adults during transition periods in their life trajectories