Discretionary policy in a monetary union with sovereign debt

This paper examines the interactions between multiple national fiscal policymakers and a single monetary policy maker in response to shocks to government debt in some or all of the countries of a monetary union. We assume that national governments respond to excess debt in an optimal manner, but that they do not have access to a commitment technology. This implies that national fiscal policy gradually reduces debt: the lack of a commitment technology precludes a random walk in steady-state debt, but the need to maintain national competitiveness avoids excessively rapid debt reduction. If the central bank can commit, it adjusts its policies only slightly in response to higher debt, allowing national fiscal policy to undertake most of the adjustment. However, if it cannot commit, then optimal monetary policy involves using interest rates to rapidly reduce debt, with significant welfare costs. We show that in these circumstances the central bank would do better to ignore national fiscal policies in formulating its policy

Fiscal sustainability in a new Keynesian model - additional appendix

Additional appendix relating to the article 'Fiscal sustainability in a new Keynesian model', forthcoming in the Journal of Money, Credit and Banking

Fluorescent optical fibre chemosensor for the detection of mercury

This work aims to develop a stable, compact and portable fibre optic sensing system which is capable of real time detection of the mercury ion (II), Hg2+. A novel fluorescent polymeric material for Hg2+ detection, based on a coumarin derivative (acting as the fluorophore) and an azathia crown ether moiety (acting as the mercury ion receptor), has been designed and synthesized. The material was covalently attached to the distal end of an optical fibre and exhibited a significant increase in fluorescence intensity in response to Hg2+ in the μM concentration range via a photoinduced electron transfer (PET) mechanism. The sensor has also demonstrated a high selectivity for Hg2+ over other metal ions. A washing protocol was identified for sensor regeneration, allowing the probe to be re-used. The approach developed in this work can also be used for the preparation of sensors for other heavy metals

Finite-element modelling of mechanobiological factors influencing sesamoid tissue morphology in the patellar tendon of an ostrich

The appearance and shape of sesamoid bones within a tendon or ligament wrapping around a joint are understood to be influenced by both genetic and epigenetic factors. Ostriches (Struthio camelus) possess two sesamoid patellae (kneecaps), one of which (the distal patella) is unique to their lineage, making them a good model for investigating sesamoid tissue development and evolution. Here we used finite-element modelling to test the hypothesis that specific mechanical cues in the ostrich patellar tendon favour the formation of multiple patellae. Using three-dimensional models that allow application of loading conditions in which all muscles, or only distal or only proximal muscles to be activated, we found that there were multiple regions within the tendon where transformation from soft tissue to fibrocartilage was favourable and therefore a potential for multiple patellae based solely upon mechanical stimuli. While more studies are needed to better understand universal mechanobiological principles as well as full developmental processes, our findings suggest that a tissue differentiation algorithm using shear strain and compressive strain as inputs may be a roughly effective predictor of the tissue differentiation required for sesamoid development

Assessment of QEC Forecasts, 1984-90. Quarterly Economic Commentary Special Article, Spring 1991

Like most economic forecasters, we keep an informal check on the performance of our forecasts. Significant errors are analysed in the hope of minimising their recurrence in the future. There is a strong case, however, for undertaking and publishing a more structured overview of forecasting performance from time to time. Studying several years' forecasts together should indicate whether there is any tendency for errors to follow persistent patterns. Accordingly, this exercise examines the forecasts presented in Quarterly Economic Commentaries (QEC) for the years from 1984 to 1990

The long noncoding RNA neuroLNC regulates presynaptic activity by interacting with the neurodegeneration-associated protein TDP-43

The cellular and the molecular mechanisms by which long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) may regulate presynaptic function and neuronal activity are largely unexplored. Here, we established an integrated screening strategy to discover lncRNAs implicated in neurotransmitter and synaptic vesicle release. With this approach, we identified neuroLNC, a neuron-specific nuclear lncRNA conserved from rodents to humans. NeuroLNC is tuned by synaptic activity and influences several other essential aspects of neuronal development including calcium influx, neuritogenesis, and neuronal migration in vivo. We defined the molecular interactors of neuroLNC in detail using chromatin isolation by RNA purification, RNA interactome analysis, and protein mass spectrometry. We found that the effects of neuroLNC on synaptic vesicle release require interaction with the RNA-binding protein TDP-43 (TAR DNA binding protein-43) and the selective stabilization of mRNAs encoding for presynaptic proteins. These results provide the first proof of an lncRNA that orchestrates neuronal excitability by influencing presynaptic function

Re Int\u27l Moulders Union and Jamaica MFG (Canada) Ltd

The facts essential to the settlement of this grievance do not appear to be in dispute. Employees of the company are paid an hourly base rate, as set out in the schedule to the collective agreement, plus incentive pay. The incentive system operates. wholly outside the agreement except for references in art. 10 (c), which is quoted below, and upon which this grievance is based. There are several indirect references to the incentive scheme in the Wage Schedule and Classifications appended to the agreement. The references in the schedule do no more than testify to the existence of the incentive system. The system in use is a standard allowed time method of calculating bonus payments

'Add, stir and reduce': Yersinia spp. as model bacteria for pathogen evolution

In the study of molecular microbiology and bacterial genetics, pathogenic species of the Yersinia genus have been pillars for research aimed at understanding how bacteria evolve into mammalian pathogens. The advent of large-scale population genomic studies has hugely accelerated progress in this field, and the pathogenic Yersinia species have re-emerged as model organisms to help shape our understanding of the evolutionary processes involved in pathogenesis. In this review, we highlight how microbial genomic studies of the yersiniae have revealed distinct features marking the evolutionary path towards pathogenesis, which are changing our understanding of pathogen evolution. As these features are also found in the genomes of other members of the Enterobacteriaceae, they provide a blueprint for the evolution of enteropathogenic bacteria

A Fluorescent Optical Fibre Chemosensor for Mercury Detection

A proof-of-concept mercury probe was developed based on covalent attachment of a chemical coating to optical fibre. The sensing element comprised a dansyl derivative and crown ether moiety, acting as fluorophore and metal ion chelator respectively. An ON-OFF type fluorescence (quench) occurred upon binding of mercury ions, via an intramolecular charge transfer mechanism, in aqueous solution in the 909nM-90.9μM (247 ppb -24.7 ppm) concentration range. A washing protocol was identified for sensor regeneration allowing the probe to be re-used

A scalable machine-learning approach to recognize chemical names within large text databases

MOTIVATION: The use or study of chemical compounds permeates almost every scientific field and in each of them, the amount of textual information is growing rapidly. There is a need to accurately identify chemical names within text for a number of informatics efforts such as database curation, report summarization, tagging of named entities and keywords, or the development/curation of reference databases. RESULTS: A first-order Markov Model (MM) was evaluated for its ability to distinguish chemical names from words, yielding ~93% recall in recognizing chemical terms and ~99% precision in rejecting non-chemical terms on smaller test sets. However, because total false-positive events increase with the number of words analyzed, the scalability of name recognition was measured by processing 13.1 million MEDLINE records. The method yielded precision ranges from 54.7% to 100%, depending upon the cutoff score used, averaging 82.7% for approximately 1.05 million putative chemical terms extracted. Extracted chemical terms were analyzed to estimate the number of spelling variants per term, which correlated with the total number of times the chemical name appeared in MEDLINE. This variability in term construction was found to affect both information retrieval and term mapping when using PubMed and Ovid