Generalized Taylor and Generalized Calvo price and wage-setting: micro evidence with macro implications

The Generalized Calvo and the Generalized Taylor model of price and wage-setting are, unlike the standard Calvo and Taylor counterparts, exactly consistent with the distribution of durations observed in the data. Using price and wage micro-data from a major euro-area economy (France), we develop calibrated versions of these models. We assess the consequences for monetary policy transmission by embedding these calibrated models in a standard DSGE model. The Generalized Taylor model is found to help rationalizing the hump-shaped response of inflation, without resorting to the counterfactual assumption of systematic wage and price indexation.Contract length, steady state, hazard rate, Calvo, Taylor, wage-setting, price-setting.

Generalized Taylor and Generalized Calvo Price and Wage-Setting: Micro Evidence with Macro Implications

The Generalized Calvo and the Generalized Taylor model of price and wage-setting are, unlike the standard Calvo and Taylor counter-parts, exactly consistent with the distribution of durations observed in the data. Using price and wage micro-data from a major euro-area economy (France), we develop calibrated versions of these models. We assess the consequences for monetary policy transmission by embedding these calibrated models in a standard DSGE model. The Generalized Taylor model is found to help rationalizing the hump-shaped response of inflation, without resorting to the counterfactual assumption of systematic wage and price indexation.contract length, steady state, hazard rate, Calvo, Taylor, wage-setting, price-setting

Generalized Taylor and Generalized Calvo price and wage-setting: micro evidence with macro implications

The Generalized Calvo and the Generalized Taylor models of price and wage-setting are, unlike the standard Calvo and Taylor counterparts, exactly consistent with the distribution of durations observed in the data. Using price and wage micro-data from a major euro-area economy (France), we develop calibrated versions of these models. We assess the consequences for monetary policy transmission by embedding these calibrated models in a standard DSGE model. The Generalized Taylor model is found to help rationalizing the hump-shaped and persistent response of inflation, without resorting to the counterfactual assumption of systematic wage and price indexation

Asymmetric expansions of FT and TFL1 lineages characterize differential evolution of the EuPEBP family in the major angiosperm lineages

Background In flowering plants, precise timing of the floral transition is crucial to maximize chances of reproductive success, and as such, this process has been intensively studied. FLOWERING LOCUS T (FT) and TERMINAL FLOWER1 (TFL1) have been identified as closely related eukaryotic phosphatidylethanolamine-binding proteins (‘EuPEBPs’) that integrate multiple environmental stimuli, and act antagonistically to determine the optimal timing of the floral transition. Extensive research has demonstrated that FT acts similar to hormonal signals, being transported in the phloem from its primary site of expression in leaves to its primary site of action in the shoot meristem; TFL1 also appears to act as a mobile signal. Recent work implicates FT, TFL1, and the other members of the EuPEBP family, in the control of other important processes, suggesting that the EuPEBP family may be key general regulators of developmental transitions in flowering plants. In eudicots, there are a small number of EuPEBP proteins, but in monocots, and particularly grasses, there has been a large, but uncharacterized expansion of EuPEBP copy number, with unknown consequences for the EuPEBP function. Results To systematically characterize the evolution of EuPEBP proteins in flowering plants, and in land plants more generally, we performed a high-resolution phylogenetic analysis of 701 PEBP sequences from 208 species. We refine previous models of EuPEBP evolution in early land plants, demonstrating the algal origin of the family, and pin-pointing the origin of the FT/TFL1 clade at the base of monilophytes. We demonstrate how a core set of genes (MFT1, MFT2, FT, and TCB) at the base of flowering plants has undergone differential evolution in the major angiosperm lineages. This includes the radical expansion of the FT family in monocots into 5 core lineages, further re-duplicated in the grass family to 12 conserved clades. Conclusions We show that many grass FT proteins are strongly divergent from other FTs and are likely neo-functional regulators of development. Our analysis shows that monocots and eudicots have strongly divergent patterns of EuPEBP evolution

The Roles of Temperature-Related Post-Transcriptional Regulation in Cereal Floral Development

Temperature is a critical environmental signal in the regulation of plant growth and development. The temperature signal varies across a daily 24 h period, between seasons and stochastically depending on local environmental events. Extracting important information from these complex signals has led plants to evolve multiple temperature responsive regulatory mechanisms at the molecular level. In temperate cereals, we are starting to identify and understand these molecular mechanisms. In addition, we are developing an understanding of how this knowledge can be used to increase the robustness of crop yield in response to significant changes in local and global temperature patterns. To enable this, it is becoming apparent that gene regulation, regarding expression and post-transcriptional regulation, is crucial. Large transcriptomic studies are identifying global changes in spliced transcript variants and regulatory non-coding RNAs in response to seasonal and stress temperature signals in many of the cereal crops. Understanding the functions of these variants and targets of the non-coding RNAs will greatly increase how we enable the adaptation of crops. This review considers our current understanding and areas for future development

Comparison of PBO solvers in a dependency solving domain

Linux package managers have to deal with dependencies and conflicts of packages required to be installed by the user. As an NP-complete problem, this is a hard task to solve. In this context, several approaches have been pursued. Apt-pbo is a package manager based on the apt project that encodes the dependency solving problem as a pseudo-Boolean optimization (PBO) problem. This paper compares different PBO solvers and their effectiveness on solving the dependency solving problem.Comment: In Proceedings LoCoCo 2010, arXiv:1007.083

Developmental responses of bread wheat to changes in ambient temperature following deletion of a locus that includes FLOWERING LOCUS T1

FLOWERING LOCUS T (FT) is a central integrator of environmental signals that regulates the timing of vegetative to reproductive transition in flowering plants. In model plants, these environmental signals have been shown to include photoperiod, vernalization, and ambient temperature pathways, and in crop species, the integration of the ambient temperature pathway remains less well understood. In hexaploid wheat, at least 5 FT‐like genes have been identified, each with a copy on the A, B, and D genomes. Here, we report the characterization of FT‐B1 through analysis of FT‐B1 null and overexpression genotypes under different ambient temperature conditions. This analysis has identified that the FT‐B1 alleles perform differently under diverse environmental conditions; most notably, the FT‐B1 null produces an increase in spikelet and tiller number when grown at lower temperature conditions. Additionally, absence of FT‐B1 facilitates more rapid germination under both light and dark conditions. These results provide an opportunity to understand the FT‐dependent pathways that underpin key responses of wheat development to changes in ambient temperature. This is particularly important for wheat, for which development and grain productivity are sensitive to changes in temperature

Effect of temperature and nutrient concentration on the growth of six species of sooty blotch and flyspeck fungi

We assessed the effects of temperature and nutrient concentration on the growth of commonly occurring members of the sooty blotch and flyspeck (SBFS) complex in the Midwest United States. Radial growth in vitro of two isolates of each of six SBFS species (Dissoconium aciculare, Colletogloeum sp. FG2, Peltaster sp. P2, Sybren sp. CS1, Pseudocercosporella sp. RH1, and Peltaster fructicola) was measured at 10, 15, 20, 25, 30 and 35°C for 7 weeks. Optimal growth for all six species occurred at 20 to 25°C, with slower growth at 10 and 15°C and little to no growth at 30 or 35°C. Differences in growth rate among species were evident at 10, 15, and 35°C. In a separate trial, the same isolates were incubated at 25°C in darkness on cellulose membrane (12–14 kDa) placed on Noble agar that had been amended to obtain concentrations of 0%, 0.01%, 0.05% or 0.5% apple juice. After 3 weeks, colonies were digitally photographed and colony opacity was assessed. The presence and concentration of apple juice strongly impacted colony morphology as evidenced by changes in colony tone, and some species were more sensitive to changes in apple juice concentration than others. These findings are the first published evidence of differences among newly described SBFS species in response to temperature and nutrient concentration Response of tomato rootstocks with the Mi resistance gene to Meloidogyne incognita race 2 at different soil temperature

Heterotic strings on G_2 orbifolds

We study compactification of heterotic strings to three dimensions on orbifolds of G_2 holonomy. We consider the standard embedding and show that the gauge group is broken from E_8 x E_8 or SO(32) to F_4 x E_8 or SO(25) respectively. We also compute the spectrum of massless states and compare with the results obtained from reduction of the 10-dimensional fields. Non-standard embeddings are discussed briefly. For type II compactifications we verify that IIB and IIA have equal massless spectrum.Comment: LaTex, 21 page

Discrete R-symmetries and Anomaly Universality in Heterotic Orbifolds

We study discrete R-symmetries, which appear in 4D low energy effective field theory derived from hetetoric orbifold models. We derive the R-symmetries directly from geometrical symmetries of orbifolds. In particular, we obtain the corresponding R-charges by requiring that the couplings be invariant under these symmetries. This allows for a more general treatment than the explicit computations of correlation functions made previously by the authors, including models with discrete Wilson lines, and orbifold symmetries beyond plane-by-plane rotational invariance. Surprisingly, for the cases covered by earlier explicit computations, the R-charges differ from the previous result. We study the anomalies associated with these R-symmetries, and comment on the results.Comment: 21 pages, 2 figures. Minor changes, typos corrected. Matches JHEP published versio