Household Consumption Through Recent Recessions

This paper examines trends in household consumption and saving behaviour in each of the last three recessions in the UK. The ‘Great Recession’ has been different from those that occurred in the 1980s and 1990s. It has been both deeper and longer, but also the composition of the cutbacks in expenditure differs, with a greater reliance on cuts to nondurable expenditure than was seen in previous recessions, and the distributional pattern across individuals differs. The young have cut back expenditure more than the old, as have mortage holders compared to renters. By contrast, the impact of the recession has been similar across education groups. We present evidence that suggests that two aspects of fiscal policy in the UK in 2008 and 2009 - the temporary reduction in the rate of VAT and a car scrappage scheme – had some success in encouraging households to increase durable purchases.Consumption, Spending, Recessions

On the lives of extra-galactic radio sources: the first 100,000 years

In this paper we discuss the early phase of radio source evolution as represented by Gigahertz Peaked Spectrum (GPS) and Compact Steep Spectrum (CSS) radio sources. Correlations between their spectral peak and angular size strongly suggest that the spectral turnovers are caused by synchrotron self absorption, and indicate that young radio sources evolve in a self similar way. We argue that the evolution of a radio source during its first 10^5 years is qualitatively very different from that during the rest of its life-time. This may be caused by the difference in the density gradient of the intra-galactic medium inside and outside the core-radius of the host galaxy.Comment: LaTeX, 7 pages & 2 figs. Invited talk at `Lifecycles of Radio Galaxies' workshop, ed J. Biretta et al., New Astronomy Reviews. More papers of the authors at http://www.ast.cam.ac.uk/~snelle

Proper motion and apparent contraction in J0650+6001

We present a multi-epoch and multi-frequency VLBI study of the compact radio source J0650+6001. In VLBI images the source is resolved into three components. The central component shows a flat spectrum, suggesting the presence of the core, while the two outer regions, with a steeper spectral index, display a highly asymmetric flux density. The time baseline of the observations considered to derive the source expansion covers about 15 years. During this time interval, the distance between the two outer components has increased by 0.28+/-0.13 mas, that corresponds to an apparent separation velocity of 0.39c+/-0.18c and a kinematic age of 360+/-170 years. On the other hand, a multi-epoch monitoring of the separation between the central and the southern components points out an apparent contraction of about 0.29+/-0.02 mas, corresponding to an apparent contraction velocity of 0.37c+/-0.02c. Assuming that the radio structure is intrinsically symmetric, the high flux density ratio between the outer components can be explained in terms of Doppler beaming effects where the mildly relativistic jets are separating with an intrinsic velocity of 0.43c+/-0.04c at an angle between 12 and 28 degrees to the line of sight. In this context, the apparent contraction may be interpreted as a knot in the jet that is moving towards the southern component with an intrinsic velocity of 0.66c+/-0.03c, and its flux density is boosted by a Doppler factor of 2.0.Comment: 7 pages, 5 pages. Accepted for publication in MNRA

Asia Rising: Ships of State?

The commercial-strategic linkages and state support for PRC port and shipping ventures resemble a twenty-first-century version of the Dutch East India Company. These notionally commercial enterprises operate globally with the full financial and military backing of their home state, and the vessels that connect the ports are “ships of state,” functioning as instruments of Chinese national strategy while they sail as commercial carriers

Relationships between body image, nutritional supplement use, and attitudes towards doping in sport among adolescent boys: implications for prevention programs

BACKGROUND: Reports of high levels of use of protein powders and nutritional supplements among young men is a concern because these substances may act as a gateway for the use of drugs and illegal substances to enhance appearance or sports performance. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between body dissatisfaction, weight change behaviors, supplement use, and attitudes towards doping in sport among an adolescent male sample. METHODS: Participants were 1148 male adolescents (age range 11-21 years) in Australia who completed a self-report questionnaire that measured weight change behaviors, supplement use, body dissatisfaction (Male Body Attitudes Scale; MBAS) and attitudes towards doping in sport (Performance Enhancing Attitudes Survey; PEAS). RESULTS: There was a positive correlation between MBAS total and PEAS scores (r = .19, p < .001), indicating that the young men who were more dissatisfied with their bodies were more likely to support the use of doping in sport. Young men who were currently attempting weight loss or weight gain, and those currently consuming energy drinks (ηp(2) = .01, p < .01) and vitamin/mineral supplements (ηp(2) = .01, p < .01) were also significantly more supportive of doping in sport. However, those involved in weight lifting, and using protein powders were not (p > .05). CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that body dissatisfaction, weight change behaviors, and supplement use are related to more lenient attitudes towards doping in sport among adolescent boys. Future research might examine whether combining educational content for the prevention of body dissatisfaction and the use of drugs in sport may have a greater preventive impact than current programs aimed at young men

BUDGET PERSPECTIVES 2015, PAPER 2. Can We Measure Who Loses Most from Public Service Spending Cuts? June 2014

The fiscal tightening currently under way in Ireland, as in many other countries, comprises cuts to spending on public services (transfers in kind) as well as cuts to benefits and increases in taxation (transfers and charges in cash). Unlike with changes to taxes and cash benefits there is no standard methodology for assessing which groups in society lose most from changes to spending on public services. Therefore distributional analyses of government ‘cash’ decisions are common while those relating to ‘in-kind’ decisions are rare. This paper considers the reasons for this, sets out some issues which must be tackled in modelling the impact of changes to public service spending and discusses some approaches that are being undertaken in other countries. We highlight the fact that such a modelling exercise will yield only imprecise result. Finally, we assess whether it is worth developing a model of the distributional impact of changes to public services in Ireland

Engineering Specific Cross‐Links in Nucleic Acids Using Glycol Linkers

One of the most convenient methods for generating oligonucleotides possessing intra‐ or interstrand cross‐links is through incorporation of oligoethylene glycol bridges by solid‐phase synthesis. The reagents are commercially available or can be synthesized in a few easy synthetic steps. Unlike many other DNA and RNA cross‐links, aspects of the structural and thermodynamic impact of modifying nucleic acids with oligoethylene glycols have been studied. This unit covers protection, phosphitylation, and preparation of the glycol linker for oligonucleotide synthesis.Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/143621/1/cpnc0503.pd

Effects of Probiotics on Inflammatory Responses in Neuronal Tissue

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease that affects more than 40 million people. While the pathophysiology has yet to be fully elucidated, some studies suggest AD associated chronic inflammation is caused by hyperactive microglia that produce pro-inflammatory factors. Probiotics have been shown to have anti-inflammatory properties and may influence neurochemistry via the gut-brain-axis, which controls communication between the intestines and brain, crossing over the blood brain barrier (BBB). A model of the BBB was constructed with a double transwell system to clarify the effects of probiotics on cerebral inflammation. Microglia cells grown in the basolateral chamber were co-cultured with endothelial cells in the upper compartment while an astrocyte monolayer separated the two compartments. Once the system was exposed to human peripheral blood T-cells and combined with histamine (probiotic anti-inflammatory product), formic acid (probiotic inflammatory product), both, or neither, the microglial medium was collected and analyzed for tumor necrosis factor α (TNFα) and interleukin-10 using ELISA. ANOVA and T-Tests were run and showed no significant results, except for the histamine and formic acid combination. In the combination treatment, levels of TNFα were slightly different than the control (p = 0.00006), contrary to what was expected. Under these conditions, probiotics do not reduce inflammation in the brain and thus cannot effectively treat AD patients. However, in the future, more experiments should be conducted with multiple inflammatory and anti-inflammatory molecules as there could be overlapping interactions between several probiotic products that produce advantageous metabolic effects and mitigate elevations in inflammatory responses

Far Ultraviolet Emission in the A2597 and A2204 Brightest Cluster Galaxies

We use the Hubble Space Telescope ACS/SBC and Very Large Telescope FORS cameras to observe the Brightest Cluster Galaxies in Abell 2597 and Abell 2204 in the far-ultraviolet (FUV) F150LP and optical U, B, V, R, I Bessel filters. The FUV and U band emission is enhanced in bright, filamentary structures surrounding the BCG nuclei. These filaments can be traced out to 20 kpc from the nuclei in the FUV. Excess FUV and U band light is determined by removing emission due to the underlying old stellar population and mapped with 1 arcsec spatial resolution over the central 20 kpc regions of both galaxies. We find the FUV and U excess emission to be spatially coincident and a stellar interpretation requires the existence of a significant amount of 10000-50000 K stars. Correcting for nebular continuum emission and dust intrinsic to the BCG further increases the FUV to U band emission ratio and implies that stars alone may not suffice to explain the observations. However, lack of detailed information on the gas and dust distribution and extinction law in these systems prevents us from ruling out a purely stellar origin. Non-stellar processes, such as the central AGN, Scattering, Synchrotron and Bremsstrahlung emission are investigated and found to not be able to explain the FUV and U band measurements in A2597. Contributions from non-thermal processes not treated here should be investigated. Comparing the FUV emission to the optical H-alpha line emitting nebula shows good agreement on kpc-scales in both A2597 and A2204. In concordance with an earlier investigation by O'Dea et al. (2004) we find that O-stars can account for the ionising photons necessary to explain the observed H-alpha line emission.Comment: accepted by mnra