Search

This paper presents an algorithm for the solution of a non-linear rational expectations model with current partial information. Even the solutions of small linear models can be intractable in the case of current partial information. The algorithm is tested on a theoretical linear rational expectations with a known analytic solution.

Publisher Summary Molecular mimicry can be defined as the structural similarity between foreign (microbial) and self-molecules of the mammalian host. Molecular mimicry can be defined as the structural similarity between foreign (microbial) and self-molecules of the mammalian host. Although the focus in autoimmune disease pathogenesis has been on peptides/proteins, molecular mimicry of glycosylated structures and glycomolecules can occur in microorganisms, especially bacteria, and has consequences other than those resulting in autoimmunity. Two well-established examples, the molecular mimicry of gangliosides by Campylobacter jejuni and of Lewis antigens by Helicobacter pylori, are reviewed in this chapter. Discussion of ganglioside mimicry by C. jejuni is used to illustrate important aspects and concepts of bacterial glycomimicry in autoimmune disease development, whereas Lewis antigen mimicry is utilized in demonstrating that molecular mimicry can have multiple biological effects in microbial pathogenesis.

Publisher Summary This chapter provides a brief overview of some highlights from a number of the most recent technological developments that have made the study of carbohydrates and carbohydrate-recognizing proteins in infectious disease biology more accessible to the nonexpert. Glycomics, as the systematic study of carbohydrate polymers and oligosaccharides, seeks to interpret what can be called the third molecular language of cells. As carbohydrates and carbohydrate-recognizing proteins play pivotal roles in infection, pathogen survival, and disease propagation, microbial glycomics is poised to revolutionize both antimicrobial vaccine and drug discovery. In a time when drug resistance of a number of clinically significant bacteria and fungi has occurred, and where only limited therapy is available for other pathogens such as viruses and parasites, new drug discovery and therapeutic strategies are required. The exploration of the role of carbohydrates and carbohydrate-recognizing proteins in infectious disease biology has been given a boost through significant technological advances, in analytical and synthetic chemistry, that are reviewed in this overview. Furthermore, the future outlook for the role of glycomics in the development of new therapeutic strategies is summarized.

What would we say if the EU, instead of being an engine of ever-widening free markets, became a mechanism by which those of its members who could not reform their economies forced on other hitherto free-market members a programme of protection? In a recent analysis, Minford et al. argued that this indeed was what the EU had become.1 Their conclusion was that if Britain could not, with whatever free-market allies it could find, divert this process back onto the original free-market agenda of the EU, then it would be forced to leave or incur massive and increasing net costs of membership. They also found that where they could calculate them the net costs to EU citizens other than Britain’s was roughly as high in percent of GDP as ours.

where X equals one of six categories of investment spending and the S's are dummy variables representing the periods during which the political shocks were thought to have had their influence. The test of the importance of the political shocks consisted of examining the t-statistics for the dummy variables. They found that none of the five negative shocks had a statistically significant (at the 1 percent level) effect on any of the six categories of investment spending. The only result consistent with the hypothesis was that the sole positive shock-the 1938 election-had a statistically significant effect on one category of investment spending. Mayer and Chatterji rejected "[tihe hypothesis that political shocks were significant factors in generating the low level of investment in the 1930s."3 There are, however, several problems with their analysis. Their formulation of the political explanation for low investment specifies that it resulted from the shock of specific events during the New Deal period. A more common formulation has the low investment resulting more from a general political demoralization. Joseph Schumpeter provided the classic discussion

Previous attempts at modelling current observed endogenous financial variables in a macroeconomic model have concentrated on only one observed endogenous variable - namely the short-term rate of interest. The solution method for dealing with more than one observed endogenous variable has thus far been computationally intractable. This paper applies a general search algorithm to a macroeconomic model with an observed interest rate and exchange rate to solve the signal extraction problem. The informational advantage of applying the signal extraction algorithm to all the current observed endogenous variables is examined in terms of the implication for policy from the misperceptions of specific macroeconomic shocks.

"Director Anthony Carnevale discusses college education as it pertains to career prospects, and subsequently how students can make the most of their degree."--Resource home page

"In response to the 2013 Federal Budget Sequestration, our findings suggest that of the estimated 746,222 jobs lost by 2014 due to sequestration of federal spending; over 70 percent of those jobs lost will be for workers with postsecondary education and training."--Resource home page."

"Dr. Carnevale analyzes the economic changes due to mass-production from the Civil War until the 1970's. He also examines and describes the standard competencies needed to enter the labor market as we survive the 21st century. Among the different new standards, he highlights the increasing need for individuals to become technically prepared and acquire robust skills to achieve ongoing career success."--Resource home page

"This report looks forward to the year 2020 and predicts the state of the American economy. Recovery 2020 provides vital labor market information such as which fields are expected to create the most jobs, the education requirements required to gain employment in the U.S., and the skills most coveted by employers."--Resource home page

"Every summer, a rise in unemployment frightens college graduates as they venture into the job market. This rise in unemployment, however, is cyclical and, as such, predictable. Major findings in this report include: Every year, college unemployment surges in the summer but recedes in the fall; The summer surge follows May and June graduations as new graduates enter the workforce over short two-month period and increase the labor supply of young college graduates by 17 percent; During the recession between 2008-2010 the surge was stronger and hiring in the fall was not as strong as in previous years. Since the recovery, however, the normal pattern of summer unemployment and fall hiring has begun to return; Beginning this year, the study finds, college graduates have more to look forward to. If the recovery holds there will be another 19.4 million job openings for people with college degrees over the next ten years. There are a variety of preemptive strategies available for college students who are soon to graduate to try to beat the odds associated with this rise in unemployment, such as: Finding your institution's career counseling or career services office; Getting the message out that you're looking for work; Relying on previous internship connections."--Resource home page

Who wrote Alfred Sloan's My Years with General Motors? a. Alfred Sloan b. John McDonald c. Alfred Chandler d. A group of more than 20 persons, known and unknown Fans of the old Groucho Marx quiz show might be tempted to choose answer a. John McDonald, in his posthumous memoir being reviewed here, argues for b. But I am inclined to think the best answer is d.

"A Decade Behind projects the growth of jobs and education requirements in the southern U.S. over the coming decade. In the report, we find that 57% of all jobs in the South will require some form of postsecondary education or training, compared to 65% for the nation."--Resource home page.

"Certificates have swelled to become the second most common postsecondary award in the U.S.: Over 1 million are awarded each year. In the context of concerns about rising college costs and student loan debt, certificates, which are cheaper and take less time to complete than college degrees, have become of increasing interest to researchers, institutions, and other stakeholders in higher education. In this report, we analyze earnings by field of study, sex, race/ethnicity, and program length. One of the most important factors that affects earnings is whether certificate holders work in the same occupational field they studied in. We also take a close look at the demographic characteristics of certificate holders: sex, race/ethnicity, age, educational attainment, academic preparation/skill, family income, and parents' education. Last, we analyze the institutions that most commonly award certificates-such as community colleges and for-profit institutions-and the states where certificates are most prevalent and provide the highest earnings returns."--Resource home page

"Getting a Bachelor's degree is the best way for most workers to make middle-class wages. In this report, however, we show there are 29 million jobs (21% of all jobs) for workers without Bachelor's degrees. The report also details five major sub-baccalaureate, career and technical education (CTE) pathways: employer-based training, industry-based certifications, apprenticeships, postsecondary certificates, and associate's degrees."--Resource home page

"Many of the stories you've heard about the Great Recession often involve the plight of college graduates, or stories about how men and women have fared differently in the recession and recovery. The media have even created a new vocabulary to describe these differences, such as "Man-cession" and "Man-covery." But the evidence suggests that differences in education better explain how Americans have fared in these difficult economic times. In The College Advantage, we argue that college degrees have served as protection for Americans seeking shelter during a tough economic storm."--Resource home page.

"Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) occupations are critical to our continued economic competitiveness because of their direct ties to innovation, economic productivity, even though they will only be 5 percent of all jobs in the U.S. economy by 2018. The disproportionate influence of STEM raises a persistent concern that we are not producing enough STEM workers to compete successfully in the global economy. We find that this concern is warranted-but not for the reasons traditionally claimed."--Resource home page

"The best pathway to the middle class is through a postsecondary education, but not everyone goes directly from high school to college. Are those who enter the workforce directly from high school doomed to work minimum wage jobs? In Career Clusters, we examine which sectors of the labor market afford individuals the best route to a middle class income. Using forecasts, we identify the most promising clusters for job seekers with a high school diploma or less, middle skills such as a certificate or Associate's degree, and those with Bachelor's degrees or better. Here are several key highlights from the report: While jobs for workers with high school diplomas are in decline, they still exist. Jobs for middle skill workers (jobs for workers with some college, a certificate, or an Associate's degree) will make up 29 percent of the workforce by 2018. Manufacturing will continue to decline in total employment, but retiring Baby Boomers will create 2 million job openings. The gender gap in wages varies greatly from cluster to cluster. For example, the gap in Architecture and Construction is $2,000; in Health Science, it is $69,000. ..."--Resource home page.

The report looks at the different earnings that can be expected by people with different undergraduate college majors. It includes statistics on earnings by gender and race/ethnicity. The website includes the full report and selected findings (both in PDF format), interactive summary tables, and other information.

"Current Obama administration policies emphasize Pell grant funding and community colleges. In a recent paper published by the Urban Institute, Dr. Carnevale argues that postsecondary education should also be aligned with employment policy."--Resource home page

Within the last few years several manufacturers have been producing the 'next generation' of scientific CCDs. These devices have small pixels (approximately 15 micrometers), high UV and broad-band spectral response (greater than 80%), very low readout noise (less than 4 e- rms), large format (2048*4096) and close butting capability. We present examples of recent data taken on the WHT (at the Roque de los Muchachos Observatory, La Palma) obtained from one such device -- the EEV CCD42 array. The detector has been used for spectroscopy and direct imaging with excellent results. Design and performance details, as well as various special operational modes will be discussed. This device has been adopted for scientific imaging on the Gemini telescopes, as well as several other major observatories -- and so these first operational results should demonstrate the power of these new sensors. Variants of the CCD42 design are now being made to yield slightly different architectures and packaging options. We will compare predicted with actual performance, and discuss characteristics and applications of this new sensor.© (1998) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.

The prime focus of the William Herschel telescope (WHT) provides a field of one degree which is to be used for fiber spectroscopy. The WYFFOS spectrograph, based on a Baranne white pupil design, is located on one of the Nasmyth platforms of the telescope and is fed from prime focus by 126, 26 meter long fibers. The system is designed for a wavelength range of 350 nm to 1.1 microns using both transmission and reflection gratings. This paper describes the integration and testing of the spectrograph undertaken in the laboratory. The image quality and spectral resolving power have been measured. The scattered light and amount of cross-talk between adjacent fibers has been assessed. The provision of calibration illumination and facilities for back illumination of the fibers, a requirement needed by the fiber positioner, is discussed.© (1995) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.

We review the present status of CCD use at major observatories, discuss the various developments that are leading to improved sensors. The choice of devices is quite extensive, but far from stable! A look at progress over the last few years helps to put present and future developments in perspective. Several areas of active CCD development are presented and discussed.

CCDs are widely used in astronomy for spectroscopy, photometry, astrometry, and many other applications. This array sensor has a periodic structure which defines individual picture elements (pixels). The stability and excellent overall response of this type of detector are well known. Less widely described is the fact that the internal structure of the array gives rise to intrapixel variations in responsivity. These response modulations are particularly relevant when the data is spatially undersampled; a situation that is not entirely uncommon in certain instruments. We have made detailed measurements of the response variations within CCDs, using an experimental arrangement that gave a 2 micron resolution. Optical response has been determined at all sample points within a pixel, at selected wavelengths in the range 400 to 900 nm. Measurements are presented for front-illuminated thick (EEV) devices and backside- illuminated thin (Tek) CCDs. Models of the internal structure have been constructed and used to calculate theoretical response data; these have been compared with the experimental results. An example of an extracted (FOS) spectrum which demonstrates these undersampling effects is discussed.