Monetary policy and exchange rate volatility in a small open economy

We lay out a small open economy version of the Calvo sticky price model, and show how the equilibrium dynamics can be reduced to simple representation in domestic inflation and the output gap. We use the resulting framework to analyze the macroeconomic implications of three alternative rule-based policy regimes for the small open economy: domestic inflation and CPI-based Taylor rules, and an exchange rate peg. We show that a key difference amongthese regimes lies in the relative amount of exchange rate volatility that they entail. We also discuss a special case for which domestic inflation targeting constitutes the optimal policy, and where a simple second order approximation to the utility of the representative consumer can be derived and used to evaluate the welfare losses associated with the suboptimal rules.

Rate of development of forensically-important Dipterain southern Brazil

Dipteran larvae were collected from rabbit (Oryctolagus cunniculus L.) carcasses during the four seasons in 2005 in the southernmost state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. The larvae were fed ground beef at ambient temperatures following collection from carcasses. The development of each species under these conditions was estimated. The most abundant species in the carcasses were Lucilia eximia (Wiedemann) and Chrysomya albiceps (Wiedemann) (Calliphoridae), and they were found in all seasons. The data were fitted to a linear model that describes the relationship between temperature and linear developmental rating. These two species are primary forensic indicators in southern Brazil. Other species such as Hemilucilia semidiaphana (Rondani) (Calliphoridae), Synthesiomyia nudiseta (Wulp), Muscina stabulans (Fallen) (Muscidae), and Fannia pusio (Wiedemann) (Fanniidae) were forensically less important because they only occurred in high frequency in certain seasons and during the first days of carcass decomposition.

On the timing of balance of payments crises: Disaggregated information and interest rate policy

This paper proposes a dynamic framework to study the timing of balance of paymentscrises. The model incorporates two main ingredients: (i) investors have private information; (ii)investors interact in a dynamic setting, weighing the high returns on domestic assets against the incentives to pull out before the devaluation. The model shows that the presence of disaggregated information delays the onset of BOP crises, giving rise to discrete devaluations. It also shows that high interest rates can be eective in delaying and possibly avoiding the abandonment of the peg. The optimal policy is to raise interest rates sharply as fundamentals become very weak. However, this policy is time inconsistent, suggesting a role for commitment devices such as currency boards or IMF pressure.

The rate-limiting step for glucose transport into the hypothalamus is across the blood-hypothalamus interface.

Specialized glucosensing neurons are present in the hypothalamus, some of which neighbor the median eminence, where the blood-brain barrier has been reported leaky. A leaky blood-brain barrier implies high tissue glucose levels and obviates a role for endothelial glucose transporters in the control of hypothalamic glucose concentration, important in understanding the mechanisms of glucose sensing We therefore addressed the question of blood-brain barrier integrity at the hypothalamus for glucose transport by examining the brain tissue-to-plasma glucose ratio in the hypothalamus relative to other brain regions. We also examined glycogenolysis in hypothalamus because its occurrence is unlikely in the potential absence of a hypothalamus-blood interface. Across all regions the concentration of glucose was comparable at a given plasma glucose concentration and was a near linear function of plasma glucose. At steady-state, hypothalamic glucose concentration was similar to the extracellular hypothalamic glucose concentration reported by others. Hypothalamic glycogen fell at a rate of approximately 1.5 micromol/g/h and remained present in substantial amounts. We conclude for the hypothalamus, a putative primary site of brain glucose sensing that: the rate-limiting step for glucose transport into brain cells is at the blood-hypothalamus interface, and that glycogenolysis is consistent with a substantial blood -to- intracellular glucose concentration gradient.

First nationwide study on driving under the influence of drugs in Switzerland.

In Switzerland, a two-tier system based on impairment by any psychoactive substances which affect the capacity to drive safely and zero tolerance for certain illicit drugs came into force on 1 January 2005. According to the new legislation, the offender is sanctioned if Delta(9)-tetrahydrocannabinol THC is >or=1.5ng/ml or amphetamine, methamphetamine, 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), 3,4-methylenedioxyethylamphetamine (MDEA), cocaine, free morphine are >or=15ng/ml in whole blood (confidence interval+/-30%). For all other psychoactive substances, impairment must be proven in applying the so-called "three pillars expertise". At the same time the legal blood alcohol concentration (BAC) limit for driving was lowered from 0.80 to 0.50g/kg. The purpose of this study was to analyze the prevalence of drugs in the first year after the introduction of the revision of the Swiss Traffic Law in the population of drivers suspected of driving under the influence of drugs (DUID). A database was developed to collect the data from all DUID cases submitted by the police or the Justice to the eight Swiss authorized laboratories between January and December 2005. Data collected were anonymous and included the age, gender, date and time of the event, the type of vehicle, the circumstances, the sampling time and the results of all the performed toxicological analyses. The focus was explicitly on DUID; cases of drivers who were suspected to be under the influence of ethanol only were not considered. The final study population included 4794 DUID offenders (4243 males, 543 females). The mean age of all drivers was 31+/-12 years (range 14-92 years). One or more psychoactive drugs were detected in 89% of all analyzed blood samples. In 11% (N=530) of the samples, neither alcohol nor drugs were present. The most frequently encountered drugs in whole blood were cannabinoids (48% of total number of cases), ethanol (35%), cocaine (25%), opiates (10%), amphetamines (7%), benzodiazepines (6%) and methadone (5%). Other medicinal drugs such as antidepressants and benzodiazepine-like were detected less frequently. Poly-drug use was prevalent but it may be underestimated because the laboratories do not always analyze all drugs in a blood sample. This first Swiss study points out that DUID is a serious problem on the roads in Switzerland. Further investigations will show if this situation has changed in the following years.

Data-based approach for developing a physical activity frequency questionnaire.

Measurement of total energy expenditure may be crucial to an understanding of the relation between physical activity and disease and in order to frame public health intervention. To devise a self-administered physical activity frequency questionnaire (PAFQ), the following data-based approach was used. A 24-hour recall was administered to a random sample of 919 adult residents of Geneva, Switzerland. The data obtained were used to establish the list of activities (and their median duration) that contributed to 95% of the energy expended, separately for men and women. Activities that were trivial for the whole sample but that contributed to > or = 10% of an individual's energy expenditure were also selected. The final PAFQ lists 70 activities or group of activities with their typical duration. About 20 minutes are required for respondents to indicate the number of days and the number of hours per day that they performed each activity. The PAFQ method was validated against a heart rate monitor, a more objective method. The total energy estimated by the PAFQ in 41 volunteers correlated well (r = 0.76) with estimates using a heart rate monitor. The authors conclude that the design of their self-administered physical activity frequency questionnaire based on data from 24-hour recall appeared to accurately estimate energy expenditure.

One hundred issues of Revista Española de Financiación y Contabilidad (REFC)-insights into trends in the Spanish academic community

From the year of its foundation, until the foundation of Revista deContabilidad in 1997, REFC has been the only referred accounting journalin Spain. Published by the Spanish Association for Accounting and BusinessAdministration (AECA), this journal is at the heart of the emergence ofa distinctly Spanish academic accounting community.Our study is based on:1. An analysis of 100 issues of REFC covering the period from 1985 to 1999.2. A questionnaire to Spanish accounting academics on their perceptionsand experience of the journal.Key points emerging from this study include:a) A move away from interest in accounting concepts and rules, as wellas accounting history, and towards positive accounting theory, the impactof accounting information on capital markets, and financial analysis.b) The emergence of a small number of universities as the driving forcein Spanish accounting research.c) Spanish academics rate REFC highly compared to other Spanish journalsfor publication status, as a support for research, and as a support forteaching. A number of English language journals are rated more highly forboth publication status and as a support for teaching.

Substances psychoactives au volant: quelle conduite ? [Psychoactive substances and driving: which approach?]

Les problèmes médicaux concernant la conduite automobile deviennent de plus en plus compliqués et de plus en plus fréquents. Dans la plupart des cantons suisses, chaque médecin peut potentiellement être interpellé en tant que médecin-conseil d'un de ses patients. Le présent article s'intéresse particulièrement aux problèmes de toxicodépendance dans le cadre du contexte législatif actuel et de la complexité croissante des soins. Medical problems involving driving aptitude are more and more common nowadays. Each doctor in Switzerland could be asked to give a certificate of driving aptitude for one of his/her patient. This paper relates to the problem of substance abusers in the current legal context and the growing complexity of care.

Physiological state and rate protein synthesis of phytoplankton off the coast of Peru as measured by sulfur-35 incorporation

Analiza el estado de la fisiología del fitoplancton de las aguas costeras cercanas a Perú

Productivity growth and the exchange rate regime: The role of financial development

This paper offers empirical evidence that a country's choice of exchange rate regime can have a signifficant impact on its medium-term rate of productivity growth. Moreover, the impact depends critically on the country's level of financial development, its degree of market regulation, and its distance from the global technology frontier. We illustrate how each of these channels may operate in a simple stylized growth model in which real exchange rate uncertainty exacerbates the negative investment e¤ects of domestic credit market constraints. The empirical analysis is based on an 83 country data set spanning the years 1960-2000. Our approach delivers results that are in striking contrast to the vast existing empirical exchange rate literature, which largely finds the effects of exchange rate volatility on real activity to be relatively small and insignificant.

Security analysts as frame-makers

In this paper we explore the mechanisms that allow securities analysts to value companies in contexts of Knightian uncertainty, that is, in the face of information that is unclear, subject to unforeseeable contingencies or to multiple interpretations. We address this question with a grounded-theory analysis of the reports written on Amazon.com by securities analyst Henry Blodget and rival analysts during the years 1998-2000. Our core finding is that analysts' reports are structured by internally consistent associations that includecategorizations, key metrics and analogies. We refer to these representations as calculative frames, and propose that analysts function as frame-makers - that is, asspecialized intermediaries that help investors value uncertain stocks. We conclude by considering the implications of frame-making for the rise of new industry categories, analysts' accuracy, and the regulatory debate on analysts'independence.

La rate: entre mystères et découvertes [The spleen: between mysteries and discoveries].

Mainly because it is possible to live without it, the spleen has always been considered a secondary and mysterious organ. However, recent observations have revealed new unsuspected functions for this organ whose patho-physiological importance should be reconsidered. Much less known than the hypersplenism, the hyposplenism corresponds historically to the loss or the insufficiency of the two principal functions of spleen: the filtration of faded or senescent elements from the blood and the fight against infections. In this article, after a short recall of the physiological functions of spleen, three innovations relating to hyposplenism will be explored: the vascular complications, the loss of the splenic pool of regenerating monocytes and the loss of the splenic pool of pluripotent mesenchymal stem cell.