"The Effect of Government Size on the Steady-State Unemployment Rate: A Dynamic Perspective"

The relationship between government size and the unemployment rate is investigated using a panel error-correction model that describes both the short-run dynamics and long-run determination of the unemployment rate. Using data from twenty OECD countries from 1970 to 1999 and after correcting for simultaneity bias, we find that government size, measured as total government outlays as a percentage of GDP, plays a significant role in affecting the steady-state unemployment rate. Importantly, when government outlays are disaggregated, transfers and subsidies are found to significantly affect the steady-state unemployment rate while government purchases of goods and services play no significant role.Steady-State Unemployment Rate, Government Size, Error Correction Model, Dynamic Panel Data Model, Arellano-Bond Estimator

"Government Outlays, Economic Growth and Unemployment: A VAR Model"

This paper examines the dynamic effects of government outlays on economic growth and the unemployment rate. Using vector autoregression and data from twenty OECD countries over three recent decades, we found: (1) positive shocks to government outlays slow down economic growth and raise the unemployment rate; (2) different types of government outlays have different effects on growth and unemployment, with transfers and subsidies having a larger effect than government purchases; (3) causality runs one-way from government outlays to economic growth and the unemployment rate; (4) the above results are not sensitive to how government outlays are financed.government outlays, economic growth, unemployment rate, vector autoregression, Granger causality

Government Outlays, Economic Growth and Unemployment: A VAR Model

This paper examines the dynamic effects of government outlays on economic growth and the unemployment rate in the context of vector autoregression. We utilize data from 20 OECD countries over three recent decades. Our main conclusions are: (1) positive shocks to government outlays will slow down economic growth and raise the unemployment rate; (2) different types of government outlays have different effects on growth and unemployment, with transfers and subsidies having a larger effect than government purchases; (3) causality runs one-way from government outlays to economic growth and the unemployment rate; (4) the above results are not sensitive to how government outlays are financed.government outlays, economic growth, unemployment rate, vector autoregression, Granger causality

Down-regulation of GRP78 Enhances Chemotherapy Sensitivity to VP-16 in Lung Adenocarcinoma

Background and objective GRP78, a member of GRPs, plays a critical role in chemotherapy resistance in some cancers. To investigate the relationship between the expression of GRP78 and resistance to anti-cancer drug VP-16 in vitro in lung adenocarcinoma SPCA-1 cell line. Methods SPCA-1 cells were divided into three groups: BAPTA-AM-treated group, A23187-treated group and the control group. RT-PCR and immunofluorescence were used to analyze the expression of GRP78 at both mRNA and protein levels, respectively. Cell apoptosis was analyzed by flow cytometry in order to evaluate the therapeutic sensitivity to VP-16. Results The expression of GRP78 at both protein and mRNA levels in the BAPTA-AM-treated cells dramatically decreased as compared to that of both A23187-treated and control groups. After treatment by VP-16, the percentages of apoptotic cells were 10.84±0.86, 6.85±0.20, 4.95±0.19 in BAPTA-M-treated group, the control group and A23187-treated group, respectively. Conclusion BAPTA-AM is highly effective in the inhibition of GRP78, down-regulation of GRP78 can significantly increase the sensitivity of adenocacinoma lung cancer to VP-16. All these suggest that inhibition of the expression of GRP78 by chemicals such as BAPTA-AM or anti-sense RNA may be a new therapeutic strategies to lung cancer

Effect of zinc acetate concentration on optimization of photocatalytic activity of p-Co3O4/n-ZnO heterostructures

In this work, p-Co3O4/n-ZnO heterostructures were fabricated on Ni substrate by hydrothermal-decomposition method using cobaltous nitrate hexahydrate (Co(NO3)(2)center dot 6H(2)O) and zinc acetate dihydrate (Zn(CH3COO)(2)center dot 2H(2)O) as precursors with zinc acetate concentration varying from 5.0 to 55.0 mM. Structure and morphology of the developed samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman spectroscopy, and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Effect of zinc acetate concentration on the photocatalytic activity of p-Co3O4/n-ZnO heterostructures was investigated by degradation of methyl orange (MO) under the UV light irradiation. The fabricated p-Co3O4/n-ZnO heterostructures exhibited higher photocatalytic activity than pure Co3O4 particles. In order to obtain the maximum photocatalytic activity, zinc acetate concentration was optimized. Specifically, at 35 mM of zinc acetate, the p-Co3O4/n-ZnO showed the highest photocatalytic activity with the degradation efficiency of MO reaching 89.38% after 72 h irradiation. The improvement of photocatalytic performance of p-Co3O4/n-ZnO heterostructures is due to the increased concentration of photo-generated holes on Co3O4 surface and the higher surface-to-volume ratio in the hierarchical structure formed by nano-lamellas

Social mobilization and social marketing to promote NaFeEDTA-fortified soya sauce in an iron-deficient population through a public-private partnership

Abstract Objective: The present pilot project aimed to assess the effectiveness of social mobilization and social marketing in improving knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAP) and Fe status in an Fe-deficient population. Design: In an uncontrolled, before-after, community-based study, social mobilization and social marketing strategies were applied. The main outcomes included KAP and Hb level and were measured at baseline, 1 year later and 2 years later. Setting: One urban county and two rural counties in Shijiazhuang Municipality, Hebei Province, China. Subjects: Adult women older than 20 years of age and young children aged from 3 to 7 years were selected from three counties to attend the evaluation protocol. Results: After 1 year, most knowledge and attitudes had changed positively towards the prevention and control of anaemia. The percentage of women who had adopted NaFeEDTA-fortified soya sauce increased from 8?9 % to 36?6 % (P # 0?001). After 2 years, Hb levels had increased substantially, by 9?0 g/l (P # 0?001) in adult women and 7?7 g/l (P # 0?001) in young children. Conclusion: Social mobilization and social marketing activities had a positive impact on the KAP of adult women, and resulted in marked improvements in Hb levels in both adult women and young children. This should be recommended as a national preventive strategy to prevent and control Fe deficiency and Fedeficiency anaemia

Analysis of wealth inequality with a random money transfer model

Increasing gap in wealth distribution is among the key issues that have been discussed worldwide in recent years. In this paper, we use the money transfer model to explain the formation of wealth distribution, by imposing two types of debt constraints, and the analytic function of wealth distribution is derived by adopting Boltzmann statistics. With a limit of individual debt, it is shown that the stationary distribution of wealth follows the exponential law, which is verified by many empirical studies. While the limit is imposed on the total amount of bank loan, the stationary distribution becomes an asymmetric Laplace one. Furthermore, an excellent agreement is found between these analytical probability density functions and numerical results by simulation at the steady state