Time Varying Cyclical Analysis for Economies in Transition

The identification of a possible European business cycle has been inconclusive and is complicated by the enlargement to the new member states and their transition to market economies. This paper shows how to decompose a business cycle into a time-frequency framework in a way that allows us to accommodate structural breaks and nonstationary variables. To illustrate, calculations of the growth rate spectrum and coherences for the Hungarian, Polish, German and French economies show the instability of the transition period. However, since then there has been convergence on the Eurozone economy at short cycle lengths, but little convergence in long cycles. We argue that this shows evidence of nominal convergence, but little real convergence. The Maastricht criteria for membership of the Euro therefore need to be adapted to test for real convergence.Time-Frequency Analysis, Coherence, Growth Rates, Business Cycle

Are Capital Markets Efficient? Evidence from the Term Structure of Interest Rates in Europe

This paper investigates the uncovered interest parity hypothesis in an unusual way. We provide empirical evidence on the efficiency of capital markets using a time domain approach. However, a common prediction from theoretical models is that inefficient capital markets cause greater volatility of the observed time series. By using cross spectral analysis we are able to test this proposition directly. We show, in particular, how this can be done for time-varying models and time-varying spectra. We use our techniques to examine the changing stability of the relationship between British and German interest rates during and following the ERM crisis of 1992/3.

High-resolution NMR structure of an RNA model system : the 14-mer cUUCGg tetraloop hairpin RNA

We present a high-resolution nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) solution structure of a 14-mer RNA hairpin capped by cUUCGg tetraloop. This short and very stable RNA presents an important model system for the study of RNA structure and dynamics using NMR spectroscopy, molecular dynamics (MD) simulations and RNA force-field development. The extraordinary high precision of the structure (root mean square deviation of 0.3 Å) could be achieved by measuring and incorporating all currently accessible NMR parameters, including distances derived from nuclear Overhauser effect (NOE) intensities, torsion-angle dependent homonuclear and heteronuclear scalar coupling constants, projection-angle-dependent cross-correlated relaxation rates and residual dipolar couplings. The structure calculations were performed with the program CNS using the ARIA setup and protocols. The structure quality was further improved by a final refinement in explicit water using OPLS force field parameters for non-bonded interactions and charges. In addition, the 2'-hydroxyl groups have been assigned and their conformation has been analyzed based on NOE contacts. The structure currently defines a benchmark for the precision and accuracy amenable to RNA structure determination by NMR spectroscopy. Here, we discuss the impact of various NMR restraints on structure quality and discuss in detail the dynamics of this system as previously determined

A Dynamic Analysis of the Determinants of the Greek Credit Default Swaps

Abstract. There is a consensus in finance literature that credit default swap spreads can be used to calculate the default probability of a government bond. The question is therefore what determines the credit default swap spreads and also what is a good indicator that predicts the future behaviour of this security spreads. In this paper, we investigate several variables which have been used in the past to predict the CDS spreads. We do this by analysing the behaviour of credit swaps spreads of Greek sovereign debt over the recent financial crisis. We take into account the changes on the data generating process as the crisis evolves. Moreover, we also investigate which part of the dynamic process of CDS spreads is explained by each possible determinant. In order to do so, we use a time-frequency approach. As it turns out, some determinants are better in explaining the short term behaviour of the CDS spreads whilst others explain the long term behaviour. We can also say by how many months one factor determines the behaviour of the CDS spreads for Greek sovereign debt. With this information we are able to determine the probability of default and what it depends upon..Keywords. Eurozone crisis, Government default, Greek default, Credit default swap, Default probability.JEL. C22, C58, G14, G15, H63, H68

A Review on Promising Approaches for Liquid Permeability Improvement in Softwoods

The low liquid permeability of refractory wood species such as Norway spruce [Picea abies (L.) Karst.] and white Fir (Abies alba) is related mainly to the aspiration of bordered pits during wood drying. The resulting low permeability complicates treatments with liquid preservatives or wood modification substances. This article provides a literature review on various mechanical and biotechnological approaches that were developed for improving liquid permeability. In this context, we focus on the incubation of Norway spruce wood with a white rot fungus, Physisporinus vitreus (Pers.) P. Karst. The process is termed "bioincising" and results in a significant increase in wood permeability. This is most probably caused by the selective degradation of bordered pit membranes and simple pits of xylem ray parenchyma during the initial period of wood colonization. Subsequently, we discuss how bioincising could be a potential pretreatment method for wood preservation and selected wood modification substances. Considering that these wood modification systems require specific penetration depths for optimal performance, we discuss the capability of bioincising to enhance permeability at the required penetration depths. In this regard, we propose a terminology for better differentiation of penetration depths by liquid substances into the wood

Decay dynamics of excitonic polarons in InAs/GaAs quantum dots

This article may be downloaded for personal use only. Any other use requires prior permission of the author and AIP Publishing. This article appeared in Journal of Applied Physics 110, 074303 (2011) and may be found at https://doi.org/10.1063/1.3639310.We present time-resolved studies of the exciton-phonon interaction in self-assembled InAs/GaAs quantum dots. Different scattering and luminescence processes were investigated by time-resolved spectroscopy exciting resonantly into the quantum dot’s electronic structure. By studying the characteristic decay times of the ground state and of several phonon-assisted recombinations we were able to distinguish a resonant Raman process from a phonon-assisted photoluminescence process which are always simultaneously present and can interfere with each other. While lifetimes under 30 ps were observed for the coherent Raman process, the incoherent phonon-assisted recombination exhibited typical lifetimes of around 1 ns independently of the excitation energy. We conclude that under resonant excitation the dominant radiative recombination process in this system always involves an electronic state of the ground state of the quantum dot’s electronic structure. Combining temperature-dependent and time-resolved measurements we show that a weak phonon-bottleneck is present in the low temperature regime (< 130 K), while it disappears for higher temperatures.DFG, 43659573, SFB 787: Halbleiter - Nanophotonik: Materialien, Modelle, BauelementeDFG, 53182490, EXC 314: Unifying Concepts in Catalysi

Completion of Mitosis Requires Neither fzr/rap nor fzr2, a Male Germline-Specific Drosophila Cdh1 Homolog

AbstractProteolysis of mitotic regulators like securins and cyclins requires Fizzy(FZY)/Cdc20 and Fizzy-related(FZR)/Hct1/Cdh1 proteins [1–5]. Budding yeast Cdh1 acts not only during G1, but is also required for B-type cyclin degradation during exit from mitosis when Cdh1 is a target of the mitotic exit network controlling progression through late mitosis and cytokinesis [6, 7]. In contrast, observations in frog and Drosophila embryos have suggested that the orthologous FZR is not involved during exit from mitosis [3, 8]. However, the potential involvement of minor amounts of maternally derived FZR was not excluded in these studies. Similarly, the reported absence of severe mitotic defects in chicken Cdh1−/− cells [9] might be explained by the recent identification of multiple Cdh1 genes [10]. Here, we have carefully analyzed the FZR requirement during exit from mitosis in Drosophila, which, apart from fzr, has only one additional homolog. We find that this fzr2 gene, although expressed in the male germline, is not expressed during mitotic divisions. Moreover, by characterizing fzr alleles, we demonstrate that completion of mitosis including Cyclin B degradation does not require FZR. However, fzr is an essential gene corresponding to the rap locus, and FZR, which accumulates predominantly in the cytoplasm, is clearly required during G1

High-resolution NMR structure of an RNA model system: the 14-mer cUUCGg tetraloop hairpin RNA

We present a high-resolution nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) solution structure of a 14-mer RNA hairpin capped by cUUCGg tetraloop. This short and very stable RNA presents an important model system for the study of RNA structure and dynamics using NMR spectroscopy, molecular dynamics (MD) simulations and RNA force-field development. The extraordinary high precision of the structure (root mean square deviation of 0.3 Å) could be achieved by measuring and incorporating all currently accessible NMR parameters, including distances derived from nuclear Overhauser effect (NOE) intensities, torsion-angle dependent homonuclear and heteronuclear scalar coupling constants, projection-angle-dependent cross-correlated relaxation rates and residual dipolar couplings. The structure calculations were performed with the program CNS using the ARIA setup and protocols. The structure quality was further improved by a final refinement in explicit water using OPLS force field parameters for non-bonded interactions and charges. In addition, the 2′-hydroxyl groups have been assigned and their conformation has been analyzed based on NOE contacts. The structure currently defines a benchmark for the precision and accuracy amenable to RNA structure determination by NMR spectroscopy. Here, we discuss the impact of various NMR restraints on structure quality and discuss in detail the dynamics of this system as previously determined

Field ionization of high-Rydberg fragments produced after inner-shell photoexcitation and photoionization of the methane molecule

We have studied the production of neutral high-Rydberg (HR) fragments from the CH4 molecule at the C 1s -> 3p excitation and at the C 1s ionization threshold. Neutral fragments in HR states were ionized using a pulsed electric field and the resulting ions were mass-analyzed using an ion time-of-flight spectrometer. The atomic fragments C(HR) and H(HR) dominated the spectra, but molecular fragments CHx(HR), x = 1-3, and H-2(HR) were also observed. The production of HR fragments is attributed to dissociation of CH4+ and CH42+ ions in HR states. Just above the C 1s ionization threshold, such molecular ionic states are created when the C 1s photoelectron is recaptured after single or double Auger decay. Similar HR states may be reached directly following resonant Auger decay at the C 1s -> 3p resonance. The energies and geometries of the parent and fragment ions have been calculated in order to gain insight into relevant dissociation pathways. (C) 2015 AIP Publishing LLC

Medical Expenditures Associated With Diabetes Among Privately Insured U.S. Youth in 2007

We demonstrate the utilization of the optical Fourier transform technique for serial-toparallel conversion of 64x10-GBd OTDM data tributaries with complex modulation formats into 50-GHz DWDM grid without loss of phase and amplitude information.</p