Transmission of government spending shocks in the euro area: Time variation and driving forces

This paper provides new evidence on the effects of government spending shocks and the fiscal transmission mechanism in the euro area for the period 1980-2008. Our contribution is two-fold. First, we investigate changes in the macroeconomic impact of government spending shocks using time-varying structural VAR techniques. The results show that the short-run effectiveness of government spending in stabilizing real GDP and private consumption has increased until the end-1980s but it has decreased thereafter. Moreover, government spending multipliers at longer horizons have declined substantially over the sample period. We also observe a weaker response of real wages and a stronger response of the nominal interest rate to spending shocks. Second, we provide econometric evidence on the driving forces behind the observed time variation of spending multipliers. We find that a higher ratio of credit to households over GDP, a smaller share of government investment and a larger share of public wages over total government spending have led to decreasing contemporaneous multipliers. At the same time, our results indicate that higher government debt-to-GDP ratios have negatively affected long-term multipliers. JEL Classification: C32, E62, H30, H50Fiscal transmission mechanism, Government spending shocks, Structural change, Structural vector autoregressions, Time-varying parameter models

Recent advances in malaria genomics and epigenomics

Malaria continues to impose a significant disease burden on low- and middle-income countries in the tropics. However, revolutionary progress over the last 3 years in nucleic acid sequencing, reverse genetics, and post-genome analyses has generated step changes in our understanding of malaria parasite (Plasmodium spp.) biology and its interactions with its host and vector. Driven by the availability of vast amounts of genome sequence data from Plasmodium species strains, relevant human populations of different ethnicities, and mosquito vectors, researchers can consider any biological component of the malarial process in isolation or in the interactive setting that is infection. In particular, considerable progress has been made in the area of population genomics, with Plasmodium falciparum serving as a highly relevant model. Such studies have demonstrated that genome evolution under strong selective pressure can be detected. These data, combined with reverse genetics, have enabled the identification of the region of the P. falciparum genome that is under selective pressure and the confirmation of the functionality of the mutations in the kelch13 gene that accompany resistance to the major frontline antimalarial, artemisinin. Furthermore, the central role of epigenetic regulation of gene expression and antigenic variation and developmental fate in P. falciparum is becoming ever clearer. This review summarizes recent exciting discoveries that genome technologies have enabled in malaria research and highlights some of their applications to healthcare. The knowledge gained will help to develop surveillance approaches for the emergence or spread of drug resistance and to identify new targets for the development of antimalarial drugs and perhaps vaccines

Coalition politics: linking malaria transmission to mosquito reproduction

Female anopheline mosquito reproduction is intimately linked to the Plasmodium sporogonic cycle, whereby malaria parasites ostensibly compete for the same resources required for mosquito egg development. However, in a recent study, Werling and colleagues (Cell 2019;177:315–325) uncovered a parasitic strategy supporting coexistence, exploiting mosquito nutrients without affecting mosquito fitness and reproductivity

Network e-Volution

Modern society is a network society permeated by information technology (IT). As a result of innovations in IT, enormous amounts of information can be communicated to a larger number of recipients faster than ever before. The evolution of networks is heavily influenced by the extensive use of IT, which has enabled co-evolving advanced quantitative and qualitative forms of networking. Although several networks have been formed with the aim to reduce or deal with uncertainty through faster and broader access to information, it is in fact IT that has created new kinds of uncertainty. For instance, although digital information integration in supply chains has made production planning more robust, it has at the same time intensified mutual dependencies, thereby actually increasing the level of uncertainty. The aim of this working paper is to investigate the aspects of evolving networks and uncertainty in networks at the cutting edges of different types of networks and from the perspective of different layers defining these networks

Pentaplexed quantitative real-time PCR assay for the simultaneous detection and quantification of botulinum neurotoxin-producing clostridia in food and clinical samples

Botulinum neurotoxins are produced by the anaerobic bacterium Clostridium botulinum and are divided into seven distinct serotypes (A to G) known to cause botulism in animals and humans. In this study, a multiplexed quantitative real-time PCR assay for the simultaneous detection of the human pathogenic C. botulinum serotypes A, B, E, and F was developed. Based on the TaqMan chemistry, we used five individual primer-probe sets within one PCR, combining both minor groove binder- and locked nucleic acid-containing probes. Each hydrolysis probe was individually labeled with distinguishable fluorochromes, thus enabling discrimination between the serotypes A, B, E, and F. To avoid false-negative results, we designed an internal amplification control, which was simultaneously amplified with the four target genes, thus yielding a pentaplexed PCR approach with 95% detection probabilities between 7 and 287 genome equivalents per PCR. In addition, we developed six individual singleplex real-time PCR assays based on the TaqMan chemistry for the detection of the C. botulinum serotypes A, B, C, D, E, and F. Upon analysis of 42 C. botulinum and 57 non-C. botulinum strains, the singleplex and multiplex PCR assays showed an excellent specificity. Using spiked food samples we were able to detect between 10(3) and 10(5) CFU/ml, respectively. Furthermore, we were able to detect C. botulinum in samples from several cases of botulism in Germany. Overall, the pentaplexed assay showed high sensitivity and specificity and allowed for the simultaneous screening and differentiation of specimens for C. botulinum A, B, E, and F

The DNA-polymorphism rs849142 is associated with skin toxicity induced by targeted anti-EGFR therapy using cetuximab

Skin toxicity (ST) is a frequent adverse effect (AE) in anti-epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)-targeted treatment of metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) resulting in decreased quality of life and problems in clinical management. We wanted to identify biomarkers predicting ST in this setting and focused on 70 DNA polymorphisms associated with acne, the (immunoglobulin fragment crystallizable region) Fcγ-receptor pathway, and systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) applying next-generation-sequencing (NGS). For the analysis patients with mCRC treated with cetuximab were selected from the FIRE-3 study. A training group consisting of the phenotypes low (1) - and high-grade (3) ST (n = 16) and a validation group (n = 55) representing also the intermediate grade (2) were genotyped and investigated in a genotype-phenotype association analysis. The single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) rs849142 significantly associated with ST in both the training- (p < 0.01) and validation-group (p = 0.04). rs849142 is located in an intron of the juxtaposed with another zinc finger protein 1 (JAZF1) gene. Haplotype analysis demonstrated significant linkage disequilibrium of rs849142 with JAZF1. Thus, rs849142 might be a predictive biomarker for ST in anti-EGFR treated mCRC patients. Its value in the clinical management of AE has to be validated in larger cohorts