Inflation and exchange rate pass-through Ha, Jongrim; Marc Stocker, M.; Yilmazkuday, Hakan
Journal of international money and finance,
July 2020, 2020-07-00, Letnik:
105
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
•Exchange rate pass-through is investigated by considering the nature of the shock triggering currency movements.•Monetary policy shocks are associated with higher exchange rate pass-through measures ...compared to other domestic shocks.•Exchange rate pass-through is lower in countries that combine flexible exchange rate regimes with credible inflation targets.
This paper investigates exchange rate pass-through into consumer prices by considering the nature of the shock triggering currency movements. By individually estimating structural factor-augmented vector autoregression models for 55 countries, monetary policy shocks are shown to be associated with higher exchange rate pass-through measures compared to other domestic shocks, while global shocks have widely different effects across countries. Pass-through measures tend to be lower in countries that combine flexible exchange rate regimes and credible inflation targets, where central bank independence can greatly facilitate the task of stabilizing inflation by using the exchange rate as a buffer against external shocks. It is implied that exchange rate pass-through should be investigated by considering the nature of the shock that triggers currency movements and country characteristics that affect the response of prices.
Ca(2+)-activated K(+) (K(Ca)) channels of small (SK) and intermediate (IK) conductance are present in a wide range of excitable and non-excitable cells. On activation by low concentrations of Ca(2+), ...they open, which results in hyperpolarization of the membrane potential and changes in cellular excitability. K(Ca)-channel activation also counteracts further increases in intracellular Ca(2+), thereby regulating the concentration of this ubiquitous intracellular messenger in space and time. K(Ca) channels have various functions, including the regulation of neuronal firing properties, blood flow and cell proliferation. The cloning of SK and IK channels has prompted investigations into their gating, pharmacology and organization into calcium-signalling domains, and has provided a framework that can be used to correlate molecularly identified K(Ca) channels with their native currents.
Small conductance calcium-activated potassium (SK or KCa2) channels link intracellular calcium transients to membrane potential changes. SK channel subtypes present different pharmacology and ...distribution in the nervous system. The selective blocker apamin, SK enhancers and mice lacking specific SK channel subunits have revealed multifaceted functions of these channels in neurons, glia and cerebral blood vessels. SK channels regulate neuronal firing by contributing to the afterhyperpolarization following action potentials and mediating IAHP, and partake in a calcium-mediated feedback loop with NMDA receptors, controlling the threshold for induction of hippocampal long-term potentiation. The function of distinct SK channel subtypes in different neurons often results from their specific coupling to different calcium sources. The prominent role of SK channels in the modulation of excitability and synaptic function of limbic, dopaminergic and cerebellar neurons hints at their possible involvement in neuronal dysfunction, either as part of the causal mechanism or as potential therapeutic targets.
Glacier inventories provide the basis for further studies on mass balance and volume change, relevant for local hydrological issues as well as for global calculation of sea level rise. In this study, ...a new Austrian glacier inventory has been compiled, updating data from 1969 (GI 1) and 1998 (GI 2) based on high-resolution lidar digital elevation models (DEMs) and orthophotos dating from 2004 to 2012 (GI 3). To expand the time series of digital glacier inventories in the past, the glacier outlines of the Little Ice Age maximum state (LIA) have been digitalized based on the lidar DEM and orthophotos. The resulting glacier area for GI 3 of 415.11 ± 11.18 km2 is 44% of the LIA area. The annual relative area losses are 0.3% yr−1 for the ~119-year period GI LIA to GI 1 with one period with major glacier advances in the 1920s. From GI 1 to GI 2 (29 years, one advance period of variable length in the 1980s) glacier area decreased by 0.6% yr−1 and from GI 2 to GI 3 (10 years, no advance period) by 1.2% yr−1. Regional variability of the annual relative area loss is highest in the latest period, ranging from 0.3 to 6.19% yr−1. The mean glacier size decreased from 0.69 km2 (GI 1) to 0.46 km2 (GI 3), with 47% of the glaciers being smaller than 0.1 km2 in GI 3 (22%).
Guidelines are presented for the organisational and clinical management of anaesthesia for day-case surgery in adults and children. The advice presented is based on previously published ...recommendations, clinical studies and expert opinion.
Unicompartmental knee arthroplasty (UKA) has been successfully performed in the United States healthcare system on outpatients. Despite differences in healthcare structure and financial environment, ...we hypothesised that it would be feasible to replicate this success and perform UKA with safe day of surgery discharge within the NHS, in the United Kingdom. This has not been reported in any other United Kingdom centres.
We report our experience of implementing a pathway to allow safe day of surgery discharge following UKA. Data were prospectively collected on 72 patients who underwent UKA as a day case between December 2011 and September 2015.
A total of 61 patients (85%) were discharged on the same day. The most common reason for failure was logistical; five patients had their operation too late in the day. Three patients failed to mobilise safely, two had inadequate control of pain and one had a leaking wound. The mean length of stay for those who were not discharged on the same day was 1.2 nights (1 to 3). During the same time, 58 patients underwent planned inpatient UKA, as they were deemed inappropriate for discharge on the day of surgery. However, three of these were safely discharged on the same day. Follow-up data, 24 hours post-operatively, were available for 70 patients; 51 (73%) reported no or mild pain, 14 (20%) had moderate pain and five (7%) had severe pain. There were no re-admissions. All patients had a high level of satisfaction.
We found that patients can be safely and effectively discharged on the day of surgery after UKA, with high levels of satisfaction. This clearly offers improved management of resources and financial savings to healthcare trusts. Cite this article:
2017;99-B:788-92.
Microbial communities in surface waters are affected by environmental conditions and can influence changes in water quality. To explore the hypothesis that the microbiome in agricultural waters ...associates with spatiotemporal variations in overall water quality and, in turn, has implications for resource monitoring and management, we characterized the relationships between the microbiota and physicochemical properties in a model irrigation pond as a factor of sampling time (i.e., 9:00, 12:00, 15:00) and location within the pond (i.e., bank vs. interior sites and cross-sectional depths at 0, 1, and 2 m). The microbial communities, which were defined by 16S rRNA gene sequencing analysis, significantly varied based on all sampling factors (PERMANOVA P < 0.05 for each). While the relative abundances of dominant phyla (e.g., Proteobacteria and Bacteroidetes) were relatively stable throughout the pond, subtle yet significant increases in α-diversity were observed as the day progressed (ANOVA P < 0.001). Key water quality properties that also increased between the morning and afternoon (i.e., pH, dissolved oxygen, and temperature) positively associated with relative abundances of Cyanobacteria, though were inversely proportional to Verrucomicrobia. These properties, among additional parameters such as bioavailable nutrients (e.g., NH3, NO3, PO4), chlorophyll, phycocyanin, conductivity, and colored dissolved organic matter, exhibited significant relationships with relative abundances of various bacterial genera as well. Further investigation of the microbiota in underlying sediments revealed significant differences between the bank and interior sites of the pond (P < 0.05 for α- and β-diversity). Overall, our findings emphasize the importance of accounting for time of day and water sampling location and depth when surveying the microbiomes of irrigation ponds and other small freshwater sources.
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•Fine scale spatial and temporal variations in aquatic microbiomes were studied.•Depth dependent increases in microbial diversity were observed throughout the day.•Microbial diversity was significantly correlated with numerous water quality properties.•Sediment microbiomes showed large differences between bank and interior locations.
Microbial water quality datasets are essential in irrigated agricultural practices to detect and inform measures to prevent the contamination of produce. Escherichia coli (E. coli) concentrations are ...commonly used to evaluate microbial water quality. Remote sensing imagery has been successfully used to retrieve several water quality parameters that can be determinants of E. coli habitats in waterbodies. This pilot study was conducted to test the possibility of using imagery from a small unmanned aerial vehicle (sUAV or drone) to improve the estimation of microbial water quality in small irrigation ponds. In situ measurements of pH, turbidity, specific conductance, and concentrations of dissolved oxygen, chlorophyll-a, phycocyanin, and fluorescent dissolved organic matter were taken at depths of 0–15 cm in 23 locations across a pond in Central Maryland, USA. The pond surface was concurrently imaged using a drone with three modified GoPro cameras, and a multispectral MicaSense RedEdge camera with five spectral bands. The GoPro imagery was decomposed into red, blue, and green components. Mean digital numbers for 1-m radius areas in the images were combined with the water quality data to provide input for a regression tree-based analysis. The accuracy of the regression-tree data description with “only imagery” inputs was the same or better than that of trees constructed with “only water-quality parameters” as inputs. From multiple cross-validation runs with “only imagery” inputs for the regression trees, the average (±SD) determination coefficient and root-mean-squared error of the decimal logarithm of E. coli concentrations were 0.793 ± 0.035 and 0.131 ± 0.011, respectively. The results of this study demonstrate the opportunities for using sUAV imagery for obtaining a more accurate delineation of the spatial variation of E. coli concentrations in irrigation ponds.
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•Remote monitoring of microbial water quality in irrigation ponds is challenging.•UAV-derived imagery was used characterize habitat parameters for E. coli.•Regression trees were constructed using the remote imagery and field-based data.•An average determination coefficient of 0.793 ± 0.035 was obtained.•This work demonstrates the potential of UAV-based monitoring of ponds.
Animal manures contain bacteria which may be used to indicate the potential microbial pollution of irrigation and recreation water sources. The objective of this work was to research how the release ...of these indicators to runoff is affected by the concurrent influence of the manure consistency and the duration of manure weathering between rainfall events. Liquid and solid dairy manure was applied on grassed soil boxes. The percentage of manure-borne bacteria removed in runoff over 1 hour was determined after the initial rainfall immediately after manure application and after rainfalls that occurred 1 week and 2 weeks after the initial rainfall. The runoff delay was linearly related to the time between rainfalls and was significantly affected by both weathering duration and manure consistency (
P
= 0.017 and 0.038, respectively). The runoff delay was dependent on the antecedent gravimetric soil water content (
R
2
= 0.92 and 0.99 for liquid and solid manure treatments, respectively). Manure weathering caused a substantial decrease in the removal of fecal bacteria with runoff in the 2-week weathering compared with the 1-week weathering treatments for both of
E. coli
and enterococci (
P
= 0.063 and 0.049, respectively). Every day of weathering decreased the percentage of the released
E. coli
and enterococci by about 1.2 and 1.5 times, respectively, for both manure consistencies. Manure consistency was not found to significantly affect the percentages of
E. coli
or enterococci removed with runoff for any level of weathering. Results indicate the need of correcting existing manure bacteria removal models by accounting for manure consistency and weathering duration.
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