Some observations on asymmetrical separation in thermal diffusion columns

Data have been obtained in steady-state batch operated thermogravitational separation columns using different binary mixtures to test the theory recently published by Morgado et al. The experimental results confirm that separations by thermal diffusion are asymmetrical except when the initial concentration is 0.5 and that the asymmetry is larger as the initial concentration deviates from 0.5 and as the separation potential increases.

Operation modes for the electric vehicle in smart grids and smart homes : present and proposed modes

This paper presents the main operation modes for an electric vehicle (EV) battery charger framed in smart grids and smart homes, i.e., are discussed the present-day and are proposed new operation modes that can represent an asset towards EV adoption. Besides the well-known grid to vehicle (G2V) and vehicle to grid (V2G), this paper proposes two new operation modes: Home-to-vehicle (H2V), where the EV battery charger current is controlled according to the current consumption of the electrical appliances of the home (this operation mode is combined with the G2V and V2G); Vehicle-for-grid (V4G), where the EV battery charger is used for compensating current harmonics or reactive power, simultaneously with the G2V and V2G operation modes. The vehicle-to-home (V2H) operation mode, where the EV can operate as a power source in isolated systems or as an off-line uninterruptible power supply to feed priority appliances of the home during power outages of the electrical grid is presented in this paper framed with the other operation modes. These five operation modes were validated through experimental results using a developed 3.6 kW bidirectional EV battery charger prototype, which was specially designed for these operation modes. The paper describes the developed EV battery charger prototype, detailing the power theory and the voltage and current control strategies used in the control system. The paper presents experimental results for the various operation modes, both in steady-state and during transients.

Contractive metrics for a Boltzmann equation for granular gases: diffusive equilibriaThe Patterson-Sullivan embedding and minimal volume entropy for outer space

We quantify the long-time behavior of a system of (partially) inelastic particles in a stochastic thermostat by means of the contractivity of a suitable metric in the set of probability measures. Existence, uniqueness, boundedness of moments and regularity of a steady state are derived from this basic property. The solutions of the kinetic model are proved to converge exponentially as t→ ∞ to this diffusive equilibrium in this distance metrizing the weak convergence of measures. Then, we prove a uniform bound in time on Sobolev norms of the solution, provided the initial data has a finite norm in the corresponding Sobolev space. These results are then combined, using interpolation inequalities, to obtain exponential convergence to the diffusive equilibrium in the strong L¹-norm, as well as various Sobolev norms.

The structural approach of a natrex model on equilibrium exchange rates

Following a general macroeconomic approach, this paper sets a closed micro-founded structural model to determine the long run real exchange rate of a developed economy. In particular, the analysis follows the structure of a Natrex model. The main contribution of this research paper is the development of a solid theoretical framework that analyse in depth the basis of the real exchange rate and the details of the equilibrium dynamics after any shock influencing the steady state. In our case, the intertemporal factors derived from the stock-flow relationship will be particularly determinant. The main results of the paper can be summarised as follows. In first place, a complete well-integrated structural model for long-run real exchange rate determination is developed from first principles. Moreover, within the concrete dynamics of the model, it is found that some convergence restrictions will be necessary. On one hand, for the medium run convergence the sensitivity of the trade balance to changes in real exchange rate should be higher that the correspondent one to the investment decisions. On the other hand, and regarding long-run convergence, it is also necessary both that there exists a negative relationship between investment and capital stock accumulation and that the global saving of the economy depends positively on net foreign debt accumulation. In addition, there are also interesting conclusions about the effects that certain shocks over the exogenous variables of the model have on real exchange rates.

A foundation model for marxian breakdown theories based on a new falling rate of profit mechanism (Long version)

The paper presents a foundation model for Marxian theories of the breakdown of capitalism based on a new falling rate of profit mechanism. All of these theories are based on one or more of "the historical tendencies": a rising capital-wage bill ratio, a rising capitalist share and a falling rate of profit. The model is a foundation in the sense that it generates these tendencies in the context of a model with a constant subsistence wage. The newly discovered generating mechanism is based on neo-classical reasoning for a model with land. It is non-Ricardian in that land augmenting technical progress can be unboundedly rapid. Finally, since the model has no steady state, it is necessary to use a new technique, Chaplygin's method, to prove the result.

A foundation model for marxian breakdown theories based on a new falling rate of profit mechanism.

The paper presents a foundation model for Marxian theories of the breakdown of capitalism based on a new falling rate of profit mechanism. All of these theories are based on one or more of ?the historical tendencies?: a rising capital-wage bill ratio, a rising capitalist share and a falling rate of profit. The model is a foundation in the sense that it generates these tendencies in the context of a model with a constant subsistence wage. The newly discovered generating mechanism is based on neo-classical reasoning for a model with land. It is non-Ricardian in that land augmenting technical progress can be unboundedly rapid. Finally, since the model has no steady state, it is necessary to use a new technique, Chaplygin?s method, to prove the result.

Pharmacokinetics and pharmacogenomics of once-daily raltegravir and atazanavir in healthy volunteers.

Atazanavir inhibits UDP-glucuronyl-transferase-1A1 (UGT1A1), which metabolizes raltegravir, but the magnitude of steady-state inhibition and role of the UGT1A1 genotype are unknown. Sufficient inhibition could lead to reduced-dose and -cost raltegravir regimens. Nineteen healthy volunteers, age 24 to 51 years, took raltegravir 400 mg twice daily (arm A) and 400 mg plus atazanavir 400 mg once daily (arm B), separated by ?3 days, in a crossover design. After 1 week on each regimen, raltegravir and raltegravir-glucuronide plasma and urine concentrations were measured by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry in multiple samples obtained over 12 h (arm A) or 24 h (arm B) and analyzed by noncompartmental methods. UGT1A1 promoter variants were detected with a commercially available kit and published primers. The primary outcome was the ratio of plasma raltegravir C(tau), or concentration at the end of the dosing interval, for arm B (24 h) versus arm A (12 h). The arm B-to-arm A geometric mean ratios (95% confidence interval, P value) for plasma raltegravir C(tau), area under the concentration-time curve from 0 to 12 h (AUC(0-12)), and raltegravir-glucuronide/raltegravir AUC(0-12) were 0.38 (0.22 to 0.65, 0.001), 1.32 (0.62 to 2.81, 0.45), and 0.47 (0.38 to 0.59, <0.001), respectively. Nine volunteers were heterozygous and one was homozygous for a UGT1A1 reduction-of-function allele, but these were not associated with metabolite formation. Although atazanavir significantly reduced the formation of the glucuronide metabolite, its steady-state boosting of plasma raltegravir did not render the C(tau) with a once-daily raltegravir dose of 400 mg similar to the C(tau) with the standard twice-daily dose. UGT1A1 promoter variants did not significantly influence this interaction.

Microbiota abnormalities in inflammatory airway diseases - Potential for therapy.

Increasingly the development of novel therapeutic strategies is taking into consideration the contribution of the intestinal microbiota to health and disease. Dysbiosis of the microbial communities colonizing the human intestinal tract has been described for a variety of chronic diseases, such as inflammatory bowel disease, obesity and asthma. In particular, reduction of several so-called probiotic species including Lactobacilli and Bifidobacteria that are generally considered to be beneficial, as well as an outgrowth of potentially pathogenic bacteria is often reported. Thus a tempting therapeutic approach is to shape the constituents of the microbiota in an attempt to restore the microbial balance towards the growth of 'health-promoting' bacterial species. A twist to this scenario is the recent discovery that the respiratory tract also harbors a microbiota under steady-state conditions. Investigators have shown that the microbial composition of the airway flora is different between healthy lungs and those with chronic lung diseases, such as asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease as well as cystic fibrosis. This is an emerging field, and thus far there is very limited data showing a direct contribution of the airway microbiota to the onset and progression of disease. However, should future studies provide such evidence, the airway microbiota might soon join the intestinal microbiota as a target for therapeutic intervention. In this review, we highlight the major advances that have been made describing the microbiota in chronic lung disease and discuss current and future approaches concerning manipulation of the microbiota for the treatment and prevention of disease.

Macronutrients and energy balance in obesity.

Energy balance is the difference between metabolizable energy intake and total energy expenditure. Energy intake is difficult to measure accurately; changes in body weight, for example, are not a good measure of the adequacy of energy intake, because fluctuations in body weight are common even if the overall trend is toward weight loss. It is now customary to assess energy requirements indirectly from total energy expenditure. Total energy expenditure consists of basal metabolism, postprandial thermogenesis, and physical activity. Energy expenditure is related to both body weight and body composition. A reduction in total energy expenditure accompanies weight loss, because basal metabolic rate decreases with the loss of lean tissue mass. Similarly, with weight gain, there is an increase in basal metabolic rate, because lean tissue mass grows to support the increase in fat tissue mass. Excess energy intake over energy expenditure causes weight gain and an accompanying increase in total energy expenditure. Following a period of adaptation, total energy expenditure will match energy intake and body weight will stabilize at a higher level. This same relationship holds for weight loss. Respiratory quotient (measured in steady state) is an indication of the proportion of energy expenditure derived from fat and carbohydrate oxidation. Over long periods of time, fat balance is equivalent to energy balance, as an excess of fat intake over fat oxidation causes fat storage.

Effect of rufinamide on gating properties of voltage-gated sodium channel Na(v)1.7

Background: Voltage-gated sodium channels (Nav1.x) are important players in chronic pain. A particular interest has grown in Nav1.7, expressed in nociceptors, since mutations in its gene are associated to two inherited pain syndromes or insensitivity to pain. Rufinamide, a drug used to treat refractory epilepsy such as the Lennox-Gastaut syndrome, has been shown to reduce the number of action potentials in cortical neurons without completely blocking Na channels. Aim: The goal of this study was to investigate the effect of rufinamide on Nav1.7 current. Methods and results: Whole-cell patch clamp experiments were performed using HEK293 cells stably expressing Nav1.7. Rufinamide significantly decreased peak sodium current by 28.3, 21.2 and 12.5% at concentrations of 500, 100 and 50μM respectively (precise EC50 could not be calculated since higher rufinamide concentrations could not be achieved in physiological buffer solution). No significant difference on the V1/2 of voltage-dependence of activation was seen; however a shift in the steady-state inactivation curve was observed (-82.6 mV to -88.8 mV and -81.8 to -87.6 mV for 50 and 100 μM rufinamide respectively, p <0.005). Frequency-dependent inhibition of Nav1.7 was also influenced by the drug. One hundred μM rufinamide reduced the peak sodium current (in % of the peak current taken at the first sweep of a train of 50) from 90.8 to 80.8% (5Hz), 88.7 to 71.8% (10 Hz), 69.1 to 49.2% (25 Hz) and 22.3 to 9.8% (50 Hz) (all p <0.05). Onset of fast inactivation was not influenced by the drug since no difference in the time constant of current decay was observed. Conclusion: In the concentration range of plasma level in human treated for epilepsy, 15 μM, rufinamide only minimally blocks Nav1.7. However, it stabilizes the inactivated state and exerts frequencydependent inhibition of Nav1.7. These pharmacological properties may be of use in reducing ectopic discharges as a causal and symptom related contributor of neuropathic pain syndrome.

Electoral Uncertainty and the Deficit Bias in a New Keynesian Economy

Recent attempts to incorporate optimal fiscal policy into New Keynesian models subject to nominal inertia, have tended to assume that policy makers are benevolent and have access to a commitment technology. A separate literature, on the New Political Economy, has focused on real economies where there is strategic use of policy instruments in a world of political conflict. In this paper we combine these literatures and assume that policy is set in a New Keynesian economy by one of two policy makers facing electoral uncertainty (in terms of infrequent elections and an endogenous voting mechanism). The policy makers generally share the social welfare function, but differ in their preferences over fiscal expenditure (in its size and/or composition). Given the environment, policy shall be realistically constrained to be time-consistent. In a sticky-price economy, such heterogeneity gives rise to the possibility of one policy maker utilising (nominal) debt strategically to tie the hands of the other party, and influence the outcome of any future elections. This can give rise to a deficit bias, implying a sub-optimally high level of steady-state debt, and can also imply a sub-optimal response to shocks. The steady-state distortions and inflation bias this generates, combined with the volatility induced by the electoral cycle in a sticky-price environment, can significantly

When is Monetary Policy All we Need?

We consider optimal monetary and scal policies in a New Keynesian model of a small open economy with sticky prices and wages. In this benchmark setting monetary policy is all we need - analytical results demonstrate that variations in government spending should play no role in the stabilization of shocks. In extensions we show, rstly, that this is even when true when allowing for in ation inertia through backward-looking rule-of-thumb price and wage-setting, as long as there is no discrepancy between the private and social evaluation of the marginal rate of substitution between consumption and leisure. Secondly, the optimal neutrality of government spending is robust to the issuance of public debt. In the presence of debt government spending will deviate from the optimal steady-state but only to the extent required to cover the deficit, not to provide any additional macroeconomic stabilization. However, unlike government spending variations in tax rates can play a complementary role to monetary policy, as they change relative prices rather than demand.

Shocks, Monetary Policy and Institutions: Explaining Unemployment Persistence in Persistence in “Europe” and the United States

This paper examines the rise in European unemployment since the 1970s by introducing endogenous growth into an otherwise standard New Keynesian model with capital accumulation and unemployment. We subject the model to an uncorrelated cost push shock, in order to mimic a scenario akin to the one faced by central banks at the end of the 1970s. Monetary policy implements a disinfl ation by following an interest feedback rule calibrated to an estimate of a Bundesbank reaction function. 40 quarters after the shock has vanished, unemployment is still about 1.8 percentage points above its steady state. Our model also broadly reproduces cross country differences in unemployment by drawing on cross country differences in the size of cost push shock and the associated disinfl ation, the monetary policy reaction function and the wage setting structure.

The Taylor Principle and (In-) Determinacy in a New Keynesian Model with hiring Frictions and Skill Loss

We introduce duration dependent skill decay among the unemployed into a New-Keynesian model with hiring frictions developed by Blanchard/Gali (2008). If the central bank responds only to (current, lagged or expected future) inflation and quarterly skill decay is above a threshold level, determinacy requires a coefficient on inflation smaller than one. The threshold level is plausible with little steady-state hiring and firing ("Continental European Calibration") but implausibly high in the opposite case ("American calibration"). Neither interest rate smoothing nor responding to the output gap helps to restore determinacy if skill decay exceeds the threshold level. However, a modest response to unemployment guarantees determinacy. Moreover, under indeterminacy, both an adverse sunspot shock and an adverse technology shock increase unemployment extremely persistently.

Discretionary Policy in a Monetary Union with Sovereign Debt

This paper examines the interactions between multiple national fiscal policy- makers and a single monetary policy maker in response to shocks to government debt in some or all of the countries of a monetary union. We assume that national governments respond to excess debt in an optimal manner, but that they do not have access to a commitment technology. This implies that national fi scal policy gradually reduces debt: the lack of a commitment technology precludes a random walk in steady state debt, but the need to maintain national competitiveness avoids excessively rapid debt reduction. If the central bank can commit, it adjusts its policies only slightly in response to higher debt, allowing national fiscal policy to undertake most of the adjustment. However if it cannot commit, then optimal monetary policy involves using interest rates to rapidly reduce debt, with signifi cant welfare costs. We show that in these circumstances the central bank would do better to ignore national fiscal policies in formulating its policy.