Inflation in Czechoslovakia, 1985-91

The authors assess inflation in Czechoslovakia between 1985 and 1991 and identify the main causes of inflation through a literature survey and empirical studies. The official prices in centrally planned economies were never perceived by central planners to be fully market clearing. Only by coincidence would the overall price level correspond to the level associated with general equilibrium. What is missing in official price indices in centrally planned economies - including the consumer price index - is suppressed inflation, manifast in queuing for products, forced substitution of demand, and forced savings. Also missing is hidden inflation, associated with practices that disguise price increases behind cosmetic or other change in product quality. The authors argue that inflationary pressures in Czechoslovakia in 1985-89 originated mainly in the investment sector. Even though the investment sector was strictly controlled, making it difficult for open inflation to emerge, the scope for inflationary pressures was great in Czechoslovakia. Such pressures arose from a mixture of factors, including poor investment planning, accommodating government finance, and the high priority given to investments and social consumption. For Czechoslovakia, the official price indices show virtually no inflation between 1985 and 1989, when there were long waiting lists for such products as cars and state and cooperative flats. Trends in these price indices do not seem to depend on the method used for constructing them, according to the sensitivity tests conducted by Czechoslovakia's Federal Statistical Office. Obviously, the official price indices failed to capture the full extent of economic disequilibrium in that period. But the extent to which official price indices understated inflationary pressures was not serious in Czechoslovakia, compared with other centrally planned economies. Estimates of hidden inflation for 1985-89 range from 0.5 percent to 2 percent a year in consumer markets and about 3 percent in the industrial sector. Estimates for suppressed inflation were less than 5 percent. The relatively small inflationary gap is indirectly confirmed by the sharp inflation associated with the recent price liberalization that subsided in a relatively short period, and both suppressed and hidden inflations have virtually disappeared. Estimates of hidden inflation were based on benchmark price comparisons between Czechoslovakia and such market economies as Austria. Those for suppressed inflation were based on disequilibrium econometric models of asset holdings and on conjecture tests.Economic Theory&Research,Environmental Economics&Policies,Markets and Market Access,Access to Markets,Financial Intermediation

A test of the permanent income hypothesis on Czech voucher privatization

http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/39465/3/wp75.pd

Early urinary biomarkers of diabetic nephropathy in type 1 diabetes mellitus show involvement of kallikrein-kinin system

Abstract Background Additional urinary biomarkers for diabetic nephropathy (DN) are needed, providing early and reliable diagnosis and new insights into its mechanisms. Rigorous selection criteria and homogeneous study population may improve reproducibility of the proteomic approach. Methods Long-term type 1 diabetes patients without metabolic comorbidities were included, 11 with sustained microalbuminuria (MA) and 14 without MA (nMA). Morning urine proteins were precipitated and resolved by 2D electrophoresis. Principal component analysis (PCA) and Projection to latent structures discriminatory analysis (PLS-DA) were adopted to assess general data validity, to pick protein fractions for identification with mass spectrometry (MS), and to test predictive value of the resulting model. Results Proteins (n = 113) detected in more than 90% patients were considered representative. Unsupervised PCA showed excellent natural data clustering without outliers. Protein spots reaching Variable Importance in Projection score above 1 in PLS (n = 42) were subjected to MS, yielding 33 positive identifications. The PLS model rebuilt with these proteins achieved accurate classification of all patients (R2X = 0.553, R2Y = 0.953, Q2 = 0.947). Thus, multiple earlier recognized biomarkers of DN were confirmed and several putative new biomarkers suggested. Among them, the highest significance was met in kininogen-1. Its activation products detected in nMA patients exceeded by an order of magnitude the amount found in MA patients. Conclusions Reducing metabolic complexity of the diseased and control groups by meticulous patients’ selection allows to focus the biomarker search in DN. Suggested new biomarkers, particularly kininogen fragments, exhibit the highest degree of correlation with MA and substantiate validation in larger and more varied cohorts

Effects of the Czech Propolis on Sperm Mitochondrial Function

Propolis is a natural product that honeybees collect from various plants. It is known for its beneficial pharmacological effects. The aim of our study was to evaluate the impact of propolis on human sperm motility, mitochondrial respiratory activity, and membrane potential. Semen samples from 10 normozoospermic donors were processed according to the World Health Organization criteria. Propolis effects on the sperm motility and mitochondrial activity parameters were tested in the fresh ejaculate and purified spermatozoa. Propolis preserved progressive motility of spermatozoa in the native semen samples. Oxygen consumption determined in purified permeabilized spermatozoa by high-resolution respirometry in the presence of adenosine diphosphate and substrates of complex I and complex II (state OXPHOSI+II) was significantly increased in the propolis-treated samples. Propolis also increased uncoupled respiration in the presence of rotenone (state ETSII) and complex IV activity, but it did not influence state LEAK induced by oligomycin. Mitochondrial membrane potential was not affected by propolis. This study demonstrates that propolis maintains sperm motility in the native ejaculates and increases activities of mitochondrial respiratory complexes II and IV without affecting mitochondrial membrane potential. The data suggest that propolis improves the total mitochondrial respiratory efficiency in the human spermatozoa in vitro thereby having potential to improve sperm motility

Effects of the Czech Propolis on Sperm Mitochondrial Function

Propolis is a natural product that honeybees collect from various plants. It is known for its beneficial pharmacological effects. The aim of our study was to evaluate the impact of propolis on human sperm motility, mitochondrial respiratory activity, and membrane potential. Semen samples from 10 normozoospermic donors were processed according to the World Health Organization criteria. Propolis effects on the sperm motility and mitochondrial activity parameters were tested in the fresh ejaculate and purified spermatozoa. Propolis preserved progressive motility of spermatozoa in the native semen samples. Oxygen consumption determined in purified permeabilized spermatozoa by high-resolution respirometry in the presence of adenosine diphosphate and substrates of complex I and complex II (state OXPHOS I+II ) was significantly increased in the propolis-treated samples. Propolis also increased uncoupled respiration in the presence of rotenone (state ETS II ) and complex IV activity, but it did not influence state LEAK induced by oligomycin. Mitochondrial membrane potential was not affected by propolis. This study demonstrates that propolis maintains sperm motility in the native ejaculates and increases activities of mitochondrial respiratory complexes II and IV without affecting mitochondrial membrane potential. The data suggest that propolis improves the total mitochondrial respiratory efficiency in the human spermatozoa in vitro thereby having potential to improve sperm motility