"Biological Agriculture in Greece: Constraints and Opportunities for Development"

In the following presentation I will first try to describe the current state of biological agriculture in Greece, and secondly to estimate the constraints and opportunities it faces as an alternative mode of production/consumption in the framework of contemporary EU rural development policies

Reconciling the Volcker Rule with the Dodd-Frank Act’s Objectives: How to Best Combat Systemic Risk

This Note examines the Dodd-Frank Act’s ban on proprietary trading and on banks sponsoring hedge funds and private equity funds, known as the Volcker Rule. This Rule has been a point of contention since the Act was passed in 2010. Some argue that the ban is either a detriment to bond market liquidity or is unnecessary because a tenuous nexus exists between proprietary trading and true causes of the 2008 financial crisis. Proponents cite the role of proprietary trading in the crisis and the inherent risk that banks accept when engaging in such trading. The controversy surrounding the Volcker Rule has led individuals in politics and finance to discuss whether to amend, or even repeal, the Rule. This Note explores arguments for and against the Volcker Rule and ultimately offers recommendations to amend the Rule while maintaining its (and Dodd-Frank’s) venerable goal of curbing systemic risk. First, this Note begins with a discussion of the causes of the financial crisis and systemic risk before explaining the Rule’s provisions. This background provides the groundwork for the ongoing debate about the Volcker Rule and whether there should be a change in the language of the Rule. Proponents and opponents have clashed on multiple issues, such as whether proprietary trading played a significant role in the financial crisis and whether it actually reduces systemic risk. Understanding arguments on both sides is crucial to assess whether and how the Volcker Rule should be amended in light of systemic risk. This Note concludes that neither outright repeal of the Rule nor leaving it fully intact are appropriate. Rather, this Note offers recommendations to amend it in a way that balances banks’ desires to engage in profitable trading with the global interest in curbing systemic risk in the financial system

Gastrointestinal carcinoma and sarcoma surgery

A number of advances in both earlier diagnostic imaging and better treatment options for patients with intra-abdominal malignancies have occurred. Frequently such newer therapies rely on the integration of established surgical and radiation approaches potentially with newer chemotherapies and immunomodulators. Unfortunately, with further study some newer therapies have proven less beneficial than initially suggested. Keeping up with the data supporting newer alternatives, and determining which therapies to provide patients can be a challenge. Nonetheless, integrating newer study data into beneficial therapeutic algorithms and understanding the molecular basis and rationale for new therapies remains a critically important role for treating physicians. To help provide busy clinicians and trainees with a current update for the management of intra-abdominal malignancies, this special issue of Translational Gastroenterology and Hepatology provides succinct reviews relevant to both diagnosis and treatment for patients with abdominal sarcoma or adenocarcinoma

What determines macroeconomic volatility? A cross-section and panel data study

This paper examines the determinants of the volatility in growth rates, seeking to expand on a very limited literature which has focused almost exclusively on financial determinants of volatility. An analysis of 41 variables and their effects on growth volatility yields some surprising results: the relationship between financial sophistication and volatility is not clearly positive as expounded in many studies, the oft cited negative relationship between real GDP per capita and volatility turns out to be positive, and there is no important relationship between inflation and volatility. The main policy implication for authorities is that intervention in most cases, whether in the form of trade and currency controls, or high government consumption, tends to exacerbate volatility.volatility; international economics; international finance; growth

Can the human mind learn to backward induce? A neural network answer.

This paper addresses the question of whether neural networks, a realistic cognitive model of the human information processing, can learn to backward induce in a two stage game with a unique subgame-perfect Nash Equilibrium. The result that the neural networks only learn a heuristic that approximates the desired output and does not backward induce is in accordance with the documented difficulty of humans to apply backward induction and their dependence on heuristics.behavioral game theory; neural networks; learning

On the numerical solution of the elastodynamic problem by a boundary integral equation method

A numerical method for the Dirichlet initial boundary value problem for the elastic equation in the exterior and unbounded region of a smooth closed simply connected 2-dimensional domain, is proposed and investigated. This method is based on a combination of a Laguerre transformation with respect to the time variable and a boundary integral equation approach in the spatial variables. Using the Laguerre transformation in time reduces the time-depended problem to a sequence of stationary boundary value problems, which are solved by a boundary layer approach resulting to a sequence of boundary integral equations of the first kind. The numerical discretization and solution are obtained by a trigonometrical quadrature method. Numerical results are included.Comment: 17 pages, 2 figures, 6 table