Central Bank's Two-Way Communication with the Public and Inflation Dynamics

Using a model of island economy where financial markets aggregate dispersed information of the public, we analyze how two-way communication between the central bank and the public affects inflation dynamics. When inflation target is observable and credible to the public, markets provide the bank with information about the aggregate state of the economy, and hence the bank can stabilize inflation. However, when inflation target is unobservable or less credible, the public updates their perceived inflation target and the information revealed from markets to the bank becomes less perfect. The degree of uncertainty facing the bank crucially depends on how two-way communication works.Monetary policy, central bank communication, inflation target

The use of electrical discharge for ignition and control of combustion of solid propellants

As the first step of the study of the combustion control of solid propellants by electrical discharges, the effects of an arc discharge, which flows along the burning surface, on the burning rate and on the increase of enthalpy of the combustion product were investigated. For specially devised composite propellants, which are composed of Al and Teflon powders, it was shown that the combination can be controlled by an arc discharge; the combustion continues when the arc discharge is applied and is interrupted when the arc discharge breaks. In the present investigation, it was also shown that an arc discharge coupled with a high-frequency electrical discharge has potential as an effective ignition method for solid propellants. For the application of this type of combustion control to an ignitor for a solid propellant rocket motor or to a control rocket motor, this method lacks flexibility in the configuration scale and needs relatively high electric power at the present stage

Regulation of mouse Scgb3a1 gene expression by NF-Y and association of CpG methylation with its tissue-specific expression

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Secretoglobin (SCGB) 3A1 is a secretory protein of small molecular weight with tumor suppressor function. It is highly expressed in lung and trachea in both human and mouse, with additional tissues expressing the protein that differ depending on the species. However, little is known about the function and transcriptional regulation of this gene in normal mouse tissues.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>By reporter gene transfection and gel mobility shift analyses, we demonstrated that expression of the mouse <it>Scgb3a1 </it>gene is regulated by a PU-box binding protein and a ubiquitous transcription factor NF-Y that respectively binds to the PU-boxes located at -99 to -105 bp and -158 to -164 bp, and the "CCAAT" binding sites located at -425 to -429 bp and -498 to -502 bp from the transcription start site of the gene. However, the effect of PU-box binding protein on transcriptional activation is minimal as compared to NF-Y, suggesting that NF-Y is a more critical transcription factor for mouse <it>Scgb3a1 </it>gene transcription. Despite that NF-Y is a ubiquitous factor, <it>Scgb3a1 </it>is highly expressed only in mouse lung and mtCC cells that are derived from SV40 transformed mouse Clara cells, but not in ten other mouse tissues/cells examined. Gene methylation analysis revealed that within 600 bp of the <it>Scgb3a1 </it>gene promoter region, there are nine CpG methylation sites present, of which two CpGs closest to the transcription start site of the gene are unmethylated in the tissues/cells expressing SCGB3A1.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>A ubiquitous transcription factor NF-Y binds to and activates expression of the mouse <it>Scgb3a1 </it>gene and tissue-specific expression of the gene is associated with CpG methylation of the promoter.</p

Japanese Monetary Policy during the Collapse of the Bubble Economy: A View of Policymaking under Uncertainty

Focusing on policymaking under uncertainty, we analyze the monetary policy of the Bank of Japan (BOJ) in the early 1990s, when the bubble economy collapsed. Conducting stochastic simulations with a large- scale macroeconomic model of the Japanese economy, we find that the BOJf s monetary policy at that time was essentially optimal under uncertainty about the policy multiplier. On the other hand, we also find that the BOJ's policy was not optimal under uncertainty about inflation dynamics, and that a more aggressive policy response than actually implemented would have been needed. Thus, optimal monetary policy differs greatly depending upon which type of uncertainty is emphasized. Taking into account the fact that overcoming deflation became an important issue from the latter 1990s, it is possible to argue that during the early 1990s the BOJ should have placed greater emphasis on uncertainty about inflation dynamics and implemented a more aggressive monetary policy. The result from a counterfactual simulation indicates that the inflation rate and the real growth rate would have been higher to some extent if the BOJ had implemented a more accommodative policy during the early 1990s. However, the simulation result also suggests that the effects would have been limited, and that an accommodative monetary policy itself would not have changed the overall image of the prolonged stagnation of the Japanese economy during the 1990s.Collapse of the bubble economy; Monetary policy; Uncertainty

OPTICAL QPSK SIGNAL QUALITY DEGRADATION DUE TO PHASE ERROR OF PUMP LIGHT

The influence of pump phase error on phase-sensitive optical amplifier (PSA) repeaters and the waveform degradation due to chromatic dispersion and fiber nonlinearities in the optical multi-relay transmission of quadrature phase-shift keying phase-conjugated twin waves are considered theoretically. First, the influence of noise from the pump phase error, optical local oscillator, receiver, and the amplified spontaneous-emission (ASE) in PSA repeaters is investigated with the assumption that transmission fibers are linear lossy channels. The bit-error rate (BER) is estimated as a function of the signal-to-noise ratio, and the relationship between the number of transmission relays and the fiber launch power is clarified. Waveform degradation due to chromatic dispersion and the optical fiber nonlinearities in transmission fibers are investigated with the noiseless condition, and the maximum repeatable number as a function of the fiber launch power is calculated. Finally, we show the relationship among the maximum repeatable number, standard deviation of pump phase error in PSA repeaters, and the fiber launch power to clarify the optimum transmission condition with consideration of the noise and the waveform degradation