Monetary policy and capital regulation in the US and Europe

From the onset of the 2007-2009 crisis, the Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank have aggressively lowered interest rates. Both sets of changes are at odds with an anti-inflationary stance of monetary policy; indeed, as the crisis began in August 2007 inflation expectations were high and rising, particularly in the United States. We have two additions to the literature. One, we present a model economy with a leveraged and regulated financial sector. Two, we find optimal Taylor rules for our economy that are consistent with a strong pro-inflationary reaction during financial crisis while maintaining a standard output-inflation mandate. We have three interpretations of our results. One, because the Federal Reserve has partial control over bank regulation it can exercise regulatory lenience. Two, the Fed’s stronger output orientation means that it will potentially respond more quickly when faced with constrained banks. Three, our results support procyclical capital regulation. JEL Classification: E52, E58, G18, G28capital regulation, crisis, monetary policy

The influence of barefoot and shod running on Triceps-surae muscle strain characteristics

The aim of the current investigation was to determine the effects of barefoot and shod running on the kinematics of the Triceps-Surae muscle group. Twelve male participants ran at 4.0 m.s-1 (± 5%) in both barefoot and shod conditions. Kinematics were measured using an eight-camera motion analysis system. Muscle kinematics from the lateral Gastrocnemius, medial Gastrocnemius and Soleus were obtained using musculoskeletal modelling software (Opensim v3.2). The results showed that muscle strain for the lateral Gastrocnemius (barefoot = 1.10 & shod = 0.33 %), medial Gastrocnemius (barefoot = 1.07 & shod = 0.32 %) and Soleus (barefoot = 3.43 & shod = 2.18 %) were significantly larger for the barefoot condition. Given the proposed association between the extent of muscle strain and the etiology of chronic muscle strain pathologies, the current investigation shows that running barefoot may place runners at greater risk from Triceps-Surae strain injuries

The genomics of neonatal abstinence syndrome

Significant variability has been observed in the development and severity of neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS) among neonates exposed to prenatal opioids. Since maternal opioid dose does not appear to correlate directly with neonatal outcome, maternal, placental, and fetal genomic variants may play important roles in NAS. Previous studies in small cohorts have demonstrated associations of variants in maternal and infant genes that encode the μ-opioid receptor (OPRM1), catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT), and prepronociceptin (PNOC) with a shorter length of hospital stay and less need for treatment in neonates exposed to opioids in utero. Consistently falling genomic sequencing costs and computational approaches to predict variant function will permit unbiased discovery of genomic variants and gene pathways associated with differences in maternal and fetal opioid pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics and with placental opioid transport and metabolism. Discovery of pathogenic variants should permit better delineation of the risk of developing more severe forms of NAS. This review provides a summary of the current role of genomic factors in the development of NAS and suggests strategies for further genomic discovery

With Heart-Strings Attached: Funding Decisions as Identity Work in Nonprofit Organizations

Resource dependency theory states that nonprofit organizations’ acceptance of public monies is acceptance of government control. Through detailed grants, government agencies can enact their priorities through willing or unwilling nonprofit organizations that need government grants to survive. To complicate the extant literature on nonprofit autonomy, this study uses an expansion of Viviana Zelizer’s connected lives theory (2005) to ask, How do nonprofits select sources of funding for specific services in reference to their relationship with granting agencies? Using qualitative interview methods the study concludes that nonprofits are agents in relationships with government grant agencies, and that nonprofits use funding decisions as opportunities to reinforce organizational self-identities

Mathematical Modelling of Different Types of Body Support Surface for Pressure Ulcer Prevention

Pressure ulcer is a common problem for today’s healthcare industry. It occurs due to external load applied to the skin. Also when the subject is immobile for a longer period of time and there is continuous load applied to a particular area of human body, blood flow gets reduced and as a result pressure ulcer develops. Body support surface has a significant role in preventing ulceration so it is important to know the characteristics of support surface under loading conditions. In this paper we have presented mathematical models of different types of viscoelastic materials and also we have shown the validation of our simulation results with experiments

Probability Coverage and Interval Length for Welch’s and Yuen’s Techniques: Shift in Location, Change in Scale, and (Un)Equal Sizes

Coverage for Welch’s technique was less than the confidence-level when size was inversely proportional to variance and skewness was extreme. Under negative kurtosis, coverage for Yuen’s technique was attenuated. Under skewness and heteroscedasticity, coverage for Yuen’s technique was more accurate than Welch’s technique

Probability of Coverage and Interval Length for Two-Group Techniques Assessing the Median and Trimmed Mean

The purpose of the present study was to assess the probability of coverage and interval length of selected statistical techniques that have a higher finite sample breakdown point than the mean and appropriate levels of probability of coverage when using Bradley’s (1978) criterion. The techniques were examined using real education and psychology datasets (Sawilowsky & Fahoome, 2003, Sawilowsky & Blair, 1992). Welch’s test exhibited appropriate coverage for the smooth symmetric, mass at zero, digit preference, and extreme bimodal distributions. Yuen’s technique performed well under an extreme bimodal distribution. Results concerning the Maritz-Jarrett and the McKean-Schrader techniques are also presented

A Stable Optical Trap from a Single Optical Field Utilizing Birefringence

We report a stable double optical spring effect in an optical cavity pumped with a single optical field that arises as a result of birefringence. One end of the cavity is formed by a multilayer Al$_{0.92}$Ga$_{0.08}$As/GaAs stack supported by a microfabricated cantilever, with a natural mode frequency of $274$ Hz. The optical spring shifts the resonance to $21$ kHz, corresponding to a suppression of low frequency vibrations by a factor of more than $10^{4}$. The stable nature of the optical trap allows the cavity to be operated without any external feedback and with only a single optical field incident

A Review on Pressure Ulcer: Aetiology, Cost, Detection and Prevention Systems

Pressure ulcer (also known as pressure sore, bedsore, ischemia, decubitus ulcer) is a global challenge for today’s healthcare society. Found in several locations in the human body such as the sacrum, heel, back of the head, shoulder, knee caps, it occurs when soft tissues are under continuous loading and a subject’s mobility is restricted (bedbound/chair bound). Blood flow in soft tissues becomes insufficient leading to tissue necrosis (cell death) and pressure ulcer. The subject’s physiological parameters (age, body mass index) and types of body support surface materials (mattress) are also factors in the formation of pressure ulcer. The economic impacts of these are huge, and the subject’s quality of life is reduced in many ways. There are several methods of detecting and preventing ulceration in human body. Detection depends on assessing local pressure on tissue and prevention on scales of risk used to assess a subject prior to admission. There are also various types of mattresses (air cushioned/liquid filled/foam) available to prevent ulceration. But, despite this work, pressure ulcers remain common.This article reviews the aetiology, cost, detection and prevention of these ulcers