Is real depreciation and expansionary fiscal policy effective? The case of Serbia

Applying the IS-MP-IA model to study the impacts of exchange rate movements, expansionary fiscal policy and other relevant variables in Serbia, we find that real appreciation of the dinar, a higher government deficit-to-GDP ratio, a lower real lending rate in the euro area, a lower lagged real oil price, a higher Germany’s real GDP and a lower expected inflation rate would promote economic growth

Neonatal Morbidity and Mortality Following Combined Vaginal and Cesarean Deliveries in a Triplet Pregnancy at 31 Gestational Weeks

SummaryObjectiveTo present details of neonatal morbidity and mortality following combined vaginal and cesarean deliveries in a triplet pregnancy at 31 gestational weeks.Case ReportA 33-year-old woman, gravida 3, para 1, was referred to our hospital for delivery after tocolytic failure in a triplet pregnancy at 31 gestational weeks. Vaginal delivery was allowed following verification of the vertex position of all three fetuses by transabdominal ultrasonography. The first two babies were delivered vaginally with an interval of 4 minutes. The third baby was delivered by cesarean section due to fetal distress and cervical contraction 38 minutes after the delivery of the second baby, and had Apgar scores of 1 and 7 at 1 and 5 minutes, respectively. All babies developed respiratory distress syndrome. The third baby suffered additionally from necrotizing enterocolitis, necrosis and perforation of the bowel, periventricular leukomalacia, and impairment of the liver and kidneys and died 2 weeks after delivery. The first two babies were discharged uneventfully about 1 month after delivery.ConclusionThis case shows that, in multiple pregnancies, an interdelivery interval longer than 30 minutes may be associated with an unfavorable outcome even after cesarean delivery. We suggest that prompt delivery should be considered when a high interdelivery interval occurs, and neonatal morbidity and mortality should be included in the parents' counseling in the management of vaginal delivery of triplet pregnancies

Modified Autonomous Key Management Scheme with Reduced Communication/Computation Costs in MANET

The growing applications of mobile ad hoc networks (MANETs) have made related security issues much more important. B. Zhu et al. proposed a key management scheme using Shamir's secret sharing scheme to construct an Autonomous Key Management (AKM) hierarchy structure. However, Shamir's secret sharing in AKM to control key hierarchy incurs high message transmission costs. This paper modifies the secret sharing scheme and applies it to AKM to reduce communication and computation costs

Consumer Attitude Towards to Step-down Extension of Luxury Brand

70% of revenue for luxury firms come from accessible luxury markets. In order to make luxury brands to be more accessible to wider public clients, many luxury-brand companies apply brand extension to expand to accessible luxury markets. Step-down brand extension is an approach that can minimise damages cause by brand extension, because it can keep attributes of core luxury brands, such as superior quality, design-led and strong emotional engagement. Hence it is curtail to understand the relationship between consumer attitude and step-down extension of luxury brands. In this research, different purchasing motives for step-down luxury brands and core brands will be examined and consumer attitude towards to both step-down luxury brand and core luxury brands will be investigated

Experience Sharing and Evaluation Results of Adaptation Technologies Due to Global Climate Change in Water Shortage Irrigation Zone of Taiwan

Source: ICHE Conference Archive - https://mdi-de.baw.de/icheArchive

THE VERTICAL INTEGRATION OF CONTENT AND BROADBAND SERVICES: THE NET NEUTRALITY DEBATE

Whether broadband service providers should be allowed to vertically integrate with content providers is a contentious issue, especially from the net neutrality perspective, since the vertically integrated firm can prioritize the delivery of its own content at the expense of that of its competitors if net neutrality is not enforced. We analyze the issues of vertical integration of content and broadband services surrounding this debate from an economic perspective, using a game-theoretic model. Our analysis establishes the various equilibria in the game, and shows that if net neutrality is not enforced, social welfare might – depending on parameter values – increase or decrease with vertical integration. Interestingly, we find that it is not always true that the ISP will always degrade the delivery of the competing content, and in fact will sometimes have the incentive to prioritize the latter over its own

Stability analysis and dynamic equilibrium of a Kuroshio generator system

Global resources for conventional energy are currently being exhausted, and several countries worldwide are attempting to develop renewable energy. Current generator systems are a subject of ocean power research. This paper proposes a novel design of a Kuroshio generator system (KGS) that is suitable for the maritime environment of Taiwan (i.e., an average flow velocity of the Kuroshio Current is 1.45 m/s and the flow can be accelerated on Keelung Sill with a depth of 50-250 m). The KGS combined a reliable cable design and simple anchor system at sea and was not affected by motion changes of rotation axes in yaw and roll by way of an appropriate rudder design. An intuitive simulation method applied using MapleSim software was used to create a rigid KGS model. Different modeling frameworks for varied cable design and joint positions were adjusted to meet system requirements. An intuitive simulation method applied using MapleSim software was used to create a rigid KGS model. Different modeling frameworks for varied cable design and joint positions were adjusted to meet system requirements. The stability analysis was performed to determine dynamic equilibrium and motion behavior of the KGS and the combined cable design. The optimal spring stiffness and damper coefficient of polyester fibers were set as 5×105 N/m and 3×105 N∙s/m in the simulation, respectively. Furthermore, to achieve the torque equilibrium in pitch motion of the KGS, an optimal joint position that was relative to the leading infraedge of the outer duct was set at 2.2 m along the negative surge axis according to their responses in the simulation. Finally, the force and torque generated by the hydrodynamic effect in the KGS and the estimated specifications of a direct-drive permanent magnet generator equipped with an external rotor were imported into the simulation. Consequently, the motion ranges of translation axes in surge and heave were converged within 0.5 m, and the estimated output power in the KGS exceeded 54.8 kW

A Bayesian measurement error model for two-channel cell-based RNAi data with replicates

RNA interference (RNAi) is an endogenous cellular process in which small double-stranded RNAs lead to the destruction of mRNAs with complementary nucleoside sequence. With the production of RNAi libraries, large-scale RNAi screening in human cells can be conducted to identify unknown genes involved in a biological pathway. One challenge researchers face is how to deal with the multiple testing issue and the related false positive rate (FDR) and false negative rate (FNR). This paper proposes a Bayesian hierarchical measurement error model for the analysis of data from a two-channel RNAi high-throughput experiment with replicates, in which both the activity of a particular biological pathway and cell viability are monitored and the goal is to identify short hair-pin RNAs (shRNAs) that affect the pathway activity without affecting cell activity. Simulation studies demonstrate the flexibility and robustness of the Bayesian method and the benefits of having replicates in the experiment. This method is illustrated through analyzing the data from a RNAi high-throughput screening that searches for cellular factors affecting HCV replication without affecting cell viability; comparisons of the results from this HCV study and some of those reported in the literature are included.Comment: Published in at http://dx.doi.org/10.1214/11-AOAS496 the Annals of Applied Statistics (http://www.imstat.org/aoas/) by the Institute of Mathematical Statistics (http://www.imstat.org