4,808 research outputs found
Testing near-rationality using detailed survey data
This paper considers the evidence of ââŹĹnear-rationality,â⏠as described by Akerlof, Dickens, and Perry (2000). Using detailed surveys of household inflation expectations for the United States and Sweden, we find that the data are generally unsupportive of the near-rationality hypothesis. However, we document that household inflation expectations tend to settle around discrete and largely fixed ââŹĹfocal points,â⏠suggesting that both U.S. and Swedish households gauge inflation prospects in rather broad, qualitative terms. Moreover, the combination of a low-inflation environment and an inflation target in Sweden has been accompanied by a disproportionately high proportion of Swedish households expecting no inflation. However, a similar low-inflation trend in the United States, which does not have an explicit inflation target, reveals no such rise in the proportion of households expecting no inflation. This observation suggests that the way the central bank communicates its inflation objective may influence inflation expectations independently of the inflation trend it actually pursues.inflation expectations, rationality, inflation targeting, Phillips curve, Bryan, Palmqvist
In-flight Evaluation of Aerodynamic Predictions of an Air-launched Space Booster
Several analytical aerodynamic design tools that were applied to the Pegasus (registered trademark) air-launched space booster were evaluated using flight measurements. The study was limited to existing codes and was conducted with limited computational resources. The flight instrumentation was constrained to have minimal impact on the primary Pegasus missions. Where appropriate, the flight measurements were compared with computational data. Aerodynamic performance and trim data from the first two flights were correlated with predictions. Local measurements in the wing and wing-body interference region were correlated with analytical data. This complex flow region includes the effect of aerothermal heating magnification caused by the presence of a corner vortex and interaction of the wing leading edge shock and fuselage boundary layer. The operation of the first two missions indicates that the aerodynamic design approach for Pegasus was adequate, and data show that acceptable margins were available. Additionally, the correlations provide insight into the capabilities of these analytical tools for more complex vehicles in which the design margins may be more stringent
Three-Dimensional Efficient Portfolio Frontier: Mean, Variance, and Farm Size
Replaced with revised version of paper 07/16/05.Farm Management,
Evidence for the intense exchange of MazG in marine cyanophages by horizontal gene transfer
Background: S-PM2 is a phage capable of infecting strains of unicellular cyanobacteria belonging to the genus Synechococcus. S-PM2, like other myoviruses infecting marine cyanobacteria, encodes a number of bacterial-like genes. Amongst these genes is one encoding a MazG homologue that is hypothesized to be involved in the adaption of the infected host for production of progeny phage.
Methodology/Principal Findings: This study focuses on establishing the occurrence of mazG homologues in other cyanophages isolated from different oceanic locations. Degenerate PCR primers were designed using the mazG gene of S-PM2. The mazG gene was found to be widely distributed and highly conserved among Synechococcus myoviruses and podoviruses from diverse oceanic provinces.
Conclusions/Significance: This study provides evidence of a globally connected cyanophage gene pool, the cyanophage mazG gene having a small effective population size indicative of rapid lateral gene transfer despite being present in a substantial fraction of cyanophage. The Prochlorococcus and Synechococcus phage mazG genes do not cluster with the host mazG gene, suggesting that their primary hosts are not the source of the mazG gene
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Extended treatment with MY-NEOVAX, personalized neoantigen-enhanced oncolytic viruses, for two end-stage cancer patients.
Neoantigen vaccines involving multi-peptides and poly-epitope-encoding RNA or DNA have undergone early phase clinical testing with modest reported antitumor effects [ 1]. The less-than-expected activity of these neoantigenic vaccines may correspond with the development of immune escape mechanisms. One permutation on neoantigen vaccines, which may counter or prevent these adaptive immune escape mechanisms, are 'personalized' oncolytic viruses that encode one or more tumor-specific transgenes. Herein, positive therapeutic effects for MY-NEOVAXâ˘, personalized neoantigen-enhanced oncolytic adenoviruses, are described for two heavily pretreated end-stage patients, one with high-grade metastatic neuroendocrine carcinoma of the pancreas and the other with colorectal cancer metastatic to the brain, liver and lungs. To date, treatment benefit has exceeded 12 months without dose-limiting toxicities or related serious adverse events and with documented radiologic stabilization and improved performance status
MâM Bond-Stretching Energy Landscapes for M_2(dimen)_(4)^(2+) (M = Rh, Ir; dimen = 1,8-Diisocyanomenthane) Complexes
Isomers of Ir_2(dimen)_(4)^(2+) (dimen = 1,8-diisocyanomenthane) exhibit different IrâIr bond distances in a 2:1 MTHF/EtCN solution (MTHF = 2-methyltetrahydrofuran). Variable-temperature absorption data suggest that the isomer with the shorter IrâIr distance is favored at room temperature [K = ~8; ÎH° = â0.8 kcal/mol; ÎS° = 1.44 cal mol^(â1) K^(â1)]. We report calculations that shed light on M_2(dimen)_(4)^(2+) (M = Rh, Ir) structural differences: (1) metalâmetal interaction favors short distances; (2) ligand deformational-strain energy favors long distances; (3) out-of-plane (A_(2u)) distortion promotes twisting of the ligand backbone at short metalâmetal separations. Calculated potential-energy surfaces reveal a double minimum for Ir_2(dimen)_(4)^(2+) (4.1 Ă
IrâIr with 0° twist angle and ~3.6 Ă
IrâIr with Âą12° twist angle) but not for the rhodium analogue (4.5 Ă
RhâRh with no twisting). Because both the ligand strain and A_(2u) distortional energy are virtually identical for the two complexes, the strength of the metalâmetal interaction is the determining factor. On the basis of the magnitude of this interaction, we obtain the following results: (1) a single-minimum (along the IrâIr coordinate), harmonic potential-energy surface for the triplet electronic excited state of Ir_2(dimen)_(4)^(2+) (R_(e,IrâIr) = 2.87 Ă
; F_(IrâIr) = 0.99 mdyn Ă
^(â1)); (2) a single-minimum, anharmonic surface for the ground state of Rh_2(dimen)_(4)^(2+) (R_(e,RhâRh) = 3.23 Ă
; F_(RhâRh) = 0.09 mdyn Ă
^(â1)); (3) a double-minimum (along the IrâIr coordinate) surface for the ground state of Ir_2(dimen)_(4)^(2+) (R_(e,IrâIr) = 3.23 Ă
; F_(IrâIr) = 0.16 mdyn Ă
^(â1))
Asian and European American Cultural Values, Bicultural Competence, and Attitudes toward seeking Professional Psychological Help among Asian American Adolescents
The authors examined the extent to which Asian American adolescents who were living in Hawaii adhered to Asian and European American cultural values in relation to mental health variables including collective self-esteem (membership, private, public, importance to identity), cognitive flexibility, general self-efficacy, and attitudes toward seeking professional psychological help. Results and implications for counselors are discussed
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