The lessons from QE and other 'unconventional' monetary policies - evidence from the Bank of England

This paper investigates the effectiveness of the ‘quantitative easing’ policy, as implemented by the Bank of England in March 2009. Similar policies had been previously implemented in Japan, the U.S. and the Eurozone. The effectiveness is measured by the impact of Bank of England policies (including, but not limited to QE) on nominal GDP growth – the declared goal of the policy, according to the Bank of England. Unlike the majority of the literature on the topic, the general-to-specific econometric modeling methodology (a.k.a. the ‘Hendry’ or ‘LSE’ methodology) is employed for this purpose. The empirical analysis indicates that QE as defined and announced in March 2009 had no apparent effect on the UK economy. Meanwhile, it is found that a policy of ‘quantitative easing’ defined in the original sense of the term (Werner, 1994) is supported by empirical evidence: a stable relationship between a lending aggregate (disaggregated M4 lending, i.e. bank credit for GDP transactions) and nominal GDP is found. The findings imply that BoE policy should more directly target the growth of bank credit for GDP-transactions

nCTEQ15 - Global analysis of nuclear parton distributions with uncertainties in the CTEQ framework

We present the new nCTEQ15 set of nuclear parton distribution functions with uncertainties. This fit extends the CTEQ proton PDFs to include the nuclear dependence using data on nuclei all the way up to 208^Pb. The uncertainties are determined using the Hessian method with an optimal rescaling of the eigenvectors to accurately represent the uncertainties for the chosen tolerance criteria. In addition to the Deep Inelastic Scattering (DIS) and Drell-Yan (DY) processes, we also include inclusive pion production data from RHIC to help constrain the nuclear gluon PDF. Furthermore, we investigate the correlation of the data sets with specific nPDF flavor components, and asses the impact of individual experiments. We also provide comparisons of the nCTEQ15 set with recent fits from other groups.Comment: 35 page

A Review of the Intrinsic Heavy Quark Content of the Nucleon

We present a review of the state of the art of our understanding of the intrinsic charm and bottom content of the nucleon. We discuss theoretical calculations, constraints from global analyses, and collider observables sensitive to the intrinsic heavy quark distributions. A particular emphasis is put on the potential of a high energy and high luminosity fixed target experiment using the LHC beams (AFTER@LHC) to search for intrinsic charm

Enhanced magnetic moment and conductive behavior in NiFe2O4 spinel ultrathin films

Bulk NiFe2O4 is an insulating ferrimagnet. Here, we report on the epitaxial growth of spinel NiFe2O4 ultrathin films onto SrTiO3 single-crystals. We will show that - under appropriate growth conditions - epitaxial stabilization leads to the formation of a spinel phase with magnetic and electrical properties that radically differ from those of the bulk material : an enhanced magnetic moment (Ms) - about 250% larger - and a metallic character. A systematic study of the thickness dependence of Ms allows to conclude that its enhanced value is due to an anomalous distribution of the Fe and Ni cations among the A and B sites of the spinel structure resulting from the off-equilibrium growth conditions and to interface effects. The relevance of these findings for spinel- and, more generally, oxide-based heterostructures is discussed. We will argue that this novel material could be an alternative ferromagetic-metallic electrode in magnetic tunnel junctions.Comment: accepted for publication in Phys. Rev.

Increased risk of breast cancer among female relatives of patients with ataxia-telangiectasia: a causal relationship?

International audienc

Low expression of bcl-2 in Brca1-associated breast cancers

Little data are available concerning the molecular mechanisms of action of Brca1 and Brca2 in breast oncogenesis. Recent experimental results suggest that Brca1 plays a role in the regulation of apoptosis. In order to determine whether the analysis of human tumours would provide data supporting this hypothesis, we have assessed the expression of the antiapoptotic bcl-2 and of the proapoptotic p53 genes in Brca1- and Brca2-associated breast carcinomas. The levels of expression of these genes were compared to those observed in controls and to the mitotic and the apoptotic indexes. Our series were composed of 16 cases of breast carcinoma in women with a germline Brca1 gene mutation, and of four cases with Brca2 mutation. A group of 39 patients aged under 36 years and for whom the search for Brca1 gene mutations was negative, and a group of 36 cases of sporadic cancers without data on their Brca status were used as controls. Immunohistochemistry was used to detect p53 and bcl-2 gene products. Mitotic and apoptotic indexes were higher in Brca1-associated tumours than in controls. No significant difference in p53 immunostaining was observed between the four groups of patients. In contrast, the rate of bcl-2-positive tumours was lower (31%) in Brca1-carcinomas than in carcinomas without Brca1 mutation (90%) (P< 10–3). A strong Bcl-2 expression was found in the four cases of Brca2-associated carcinomas. No significant correlation was observed between p53 and Bcl-2 immunostainings, either in cases or in controls. The association between Brca1 status and Bcl-2 expression remained significant after adjustment for the oestrogen receptor status. Our study shows that a low expression of bcl-2 characterises most Brca1-associated breast carcinomas, a biological trait which seems not to be shared by Brca2-associated tumours nor to be related to oestrogen receptor and/or p53 status.bcl-2 might thus be one of the target genes involved in the oncogenesis related to Brca1 and its down-regulation may account for the increased apoptosis and the high proliferative rate observed in Brca1-associated carcinomas. © 2000 Cancer Research Campaig

Identification of Novel Craniofacial Regulatory Domains Located far Upstream of SOX9 and Disrupted in Pierre Robin Sequence.

Mutations in the coding sequence of SOX9 cause campomelic dysplasia (CD), a disorder of skeletal development associated with 46,XY disorders of sex development (DSDs). Translocations, deletions, and duplications within a ∼2 Mb region upstream of SOX9 can recapitulate the CD-DSD phenotype fully or partially, suggesting the existence of an unusually large cis-regulatory control region. Pierre Robin sequence (PRS) is a craniofacial disorder that is frequently an endophenotype of CD and a locus for isolated PRS at ∼1.2-1.5 Mb upstream of SOX9 has been previously reported. The craniofacial regulatory potential within this locus, and within the greater genomic domain surrounding SOX9, remains poorly defined. We report two novel deletions upstream of SOX9 in families with PRS, allowing refinement of the regions harboring candidate craniofacial regulatory elements. In parallel, ChIP-Seq for p300 binding sites in mouse craniofacial tissue led to the identification of several novel craniofacial enhancers at the SOX9 locus, which were validated in transgenic reporter mice and zebrafish. Notably, some of the functionally validated elements fall within the PRS deletions. These studies suggest that multiple noncoding elements contribute to the craniofacial regulation of SOX9 expression, and that their disruption results in PRS