Policy Games with Liquidity Constrained Consumers

In the light of the recent financial crisis, we investigate the effects generated by limited asset market participation on optimal monetary and fiscal policy, where monetary and fiscal authority are independent and play strategically. We find that limited asset market participation strongly affects the optimal steady state and the optimal dynamics of the different policy regimes considered. In particular: (i) both in the long run and in short run equilibrium, a greater inflation bias is optimal than in the standard representative agent economy; (ii) in response to a markup shock, fiscal policy becomes more active as the fraction of liquidity constrained agents increases; (iii) optimal discretionary policies imply welfare losses for Ricardian, while liquidity constrained consumers experience welfare gains with respect to Ramsey.liquidity constrained consumers, optimal monetary and fiscal policy, strategic interaction, inflation bias

Gender, parent-child relations and normative obligations

This article reports the perspective, design and major findings of a large-scale study of the parent-child relationship across the life course, drawing on data from a probability sample of 1 390 residents in the Boston Standard Metropolitan Statistical Area (SMSA), together with spin-off samples of parents and adult children of these respondents. Parent-child relations are analyzed with attention given to the gender of parent and child. The highest level of interaction, affection, shared values and help exchange is found between mothers and daughters, and the least between fathers and sons, with opposite-sex parent-child pairs falling between. Special attention is given to a unique method of studying normative obligations to a wide array of kin and non-kin - the factorial, or vignette technique. This method permits a comparison of the degree of obligation felt toward parents and children with numerous relatives, each specified in terms of gender and marital status, facing four types of crisis events and three types of celebratory events. Analysis shows a symmetry largely determined by degree of relatedness to the 74 kin and non-kin types, with the gender of both vignette person and respondent tipping the balance toward higher scores on the obligation scale for women than for men. Findings relating to gender differences are discussed in terms of their social policy implications

In vitro and in vivo screening for novel essential cell-envelope proteins in Pseudomonas aeruginosa

The Gram-negative bacterium Pseudomonas aeruginosa represents a prototype of multi-drug resistant opportunistic pathogens for which novel therapeutic options are urgently required. In order to identify new candidates as potential drug targets, we combined large-scale transposon mutagenesis data analysis and bioinformatics predictions to retrieve a set of putative essential genes which are conserved in P. aeruginosa and predicted to encode cell envelope or secreted proteins. By generating unmarked deletion or conditional mutants, we confirmed the in vitro essentiality of two periplasmic proteins, LptH and LolA, responsible for lipopolysaccharide and lipoproteins transport to the outer membrane respectively, and confirmed that they are important for cell envelope stability. LptH was also found to be essential for P. aeruginosa ability to cause infection in different animal models. Conversely, LolA-depleted cells appeared only partially impaired in pathogenicity, indicating that this protein likely plays a less relevant role during bacterial infection. Finally, we ruled out any involvement of the other six proteins under investigation in P. aeruginosa growth, cell envelope stability and virulence. Besides proposing LptH as a very promising drug target in P. aeruginosa, this study confirms the importance of in vitro and in vivo validation of potential essential genes identified through random transposon mutagenesis

Instantaneous centre of rotation in human motion: Measurement and computational issues

The instantaneous centre of rotation plays an important role in biomechanical modelling and physical-medical interpretation of human gestures. Therefore, we consider its measurement, based on video-image acquisition and processing of human motion records. Measurement and computational aspects are discussed, including the evaluation of measurement uncertainty and the estimation of the effect of some influence quantities on the determination of the position of the instantaneous centre of rotation

Dissident Bodies and Migrant Hogra among Young Maghrebi during Two Years of the 'Arab Spring' (Tangiers 2011, Morocco; Turin 2010-2013, Italy).

The immense so-called Arab Spring mobilization suggested a politically-produced process; created by contingent dimensions and fluent coalitions that influence the current migration dynamics and policies in Europe. The present contribution is part of a multi-local ethnography effectuated in Morocco (Khouribga 2007; Tangiers 2011) and Turin among the ultimate-decade's Moroccan immigrants and Tunisian migrants from the so-called North African Emergency. During summer 2011, Moroccan media renamed Tangiers: 'People's Capital of the 20 February Movement'; depicted as young and new, albeit heterogeneous in age, genre and of socio-political appurtenance. Furthermore, the last decade has witnessed populace protests throughout Morocco; particularly in small, medium-sized cities like Khouribga; emigration springboard towards Turin since the eighties. Here the 20 F movement redefined and integrated itself with local-migration policies. Crucial, politically-related events within an intimate and familiar sphere - concomitant with intergenerational, social breakdowns and continuity amplified by emigration - will emerge through life-stories. Migrants, both in Tangiers and Turin, criticize the hogra as standing for vulnerability and a life-style when confronted by power. My analysis shows how this sentiment - publicized during the Arab Spring, but rooted in Moroccan history - emigrates by accompanying people, who encounter growing migration-policy and life-condition difficulties in a new context. In conclusion, I will show how corporeity can transmute into a manipulatively exploitable power-element; culminating in individual and collective violence. This occurred both during Tangier's movement and in Turin amongst Tunisian Asylum-seekers and migrants held within the CIE (Centre of Identification and Expulsion). DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2013.v4n11p5

Vzájemné působení inteligentních měst a snižování rizika katastrof: studie města Amsterdam

The thesis examines how the development of smart cities interplays with the enhancement of Disaster Risk Reduction. Natural disasters are increasing, especially in urban areas, representing a concentration of social, economic and institutional vulnerabilities due to high population density. The development of smart cities could represent an opportunity to make urban areas safer and prepared to handle possible extreme weather events, as they are based on the development of cross-sectoral policies to deal with urban challenges and increase the city's overall efficiency. Through a single case study research of the city of Amsterdam, the thesis aims to prove the connections between smart cities and disaster risk reduction frameworks through qualitative data analysis. The findings show the overall efficiency of the approach employed by the city of Amsterdam for both the development of the smart city and disaster risk reduction. Even if the city does not explicitly state the connection between the two domains, the study found that Amsterdam's smart city policies have several elements that interplay with the framework of disaster risk reduction, enhancing its effectiveness. Keywords Smart Cities, Disaster Risk Reduction, Disaster Risk, Vulnerability, Resilience, Policy-Making Title The Interplay Between...Práce zkoumá, jak se rozvoj chytrých měst prolíná se zlepšováním snižování rizika katastrof. Přírodní katastrofy se vyskytují stále častěji zejména v městských oblastech, které představují koncentraci sociálních, ekonomických a institucionálních zranitelností v důsledku vysoké hustoty obyvatelstva. Rozvoj inteligentních měst by mohl představovat příležitost, jak učinit městské oblasti bezpečnějšími a připravenějšími na zvládání možných extrémních přírodních jevů, neboť jsou založeny na rozvoji meziodvětvových politik pro řešení městských problémů a zvýšení celkové efektivity samotného města. Cílem práce je skrze jednopřípadovou studii města Amsterdam prokázat několik souvislostí mezi chytrými městy a rámci snižování rizika katastrof prostřednictvím analýzy kvalitativních dat. Zjištění ukazují celkovou účinnost přístupu, který město Amsterdam využívá jak pro rozvoj chytrého města, tak pro snižování rizika katastrof. I když město spojení mezi oběma oblastmi výslovně neuvádí, studie zjistila, že amsterdamská politika chytrého města má několik prvků, které se jasně prolínají s rámcem snižování rizika katastrof, což zvyšuje její účinnost. Klíčová slova chytrá města, snižování rizika katastrof, riziko katastrof, zranitelnost, odolnost, tvorba politik Název práce Vzájemné působení inteligentních měst a...Katedra bezpečnostních studiíDepartment of Security StudiesFaculty of Social SciencesFakulta sociálních vě