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We study the welfare effects of international monetary policy spillovers at the zero lower bound, focusing on the effects of forward guidance in a large economy ("foreign") on its smaller trading partner ("home") in scenarios motivated by the global financial crisis. We find that foreign forward guidance has an overall prosper‐thy‐neighbor effect on the home economy as long as it increases foreign welfare. This finding holds under alternative assumptions about exchange rate pass‐through or the degree of international financial integration. However, foreign forward guidance may worsen the trade‐off between the stabilization objectives of home monetary policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article reports a large‐scale die‐off of approximately one‐third of the unionid mussels inhabiting a shallow, naturally eutrophic, floodplain lake (Zalew Pińczowski), which took place within the space of just a few days.Mortality was the highest in Pseudanodonta complanata (81%), followed by Unio pictorum (58%), Anodonta cygnea (26%), Unio tumidus (15%), and Anodonta anatina (5%). It was significantly related to mussel size (age) only in A. cygnea, with the mortality rate higher in smaller (young) mussels.Pseudanodonta complanata was already the rarest species in the lake, and the number of survivors decreased to such an extent as to trigger a possible Allee effect.The most likely cause of the die‐off was a motor‐boating incident that had directly preceded the die‐off. Analysis of the water samples collected just after the die‐off revealed an extremely high concentration of phosphate (up to 0.5 mg dm−3) and nitrite (up to 0.06 mg dm−3). We suggest that the boat movements must have disturbed the lake sediments, thereby disrupting the mussels' physiology and causing mass mortality.The high sensitivity of P. complanata to environmental stress suggests that it may be an effective umbrella species for the protection of co‐occurring mussel species in eutrophic lakes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the effects of fiscal devaluations in a model of a monetary union characterized by national fiscal policies and supranational monetary policy. We show that a revenue-neutral permanent tax shift in one country, which raises its consumption tax to finance a cut to labor taxes, increases welfare of the monetary union in the long run. The distribution of gains among countries depends on their degree of financial integration. We also document that price rigidities result in short-run welfare costs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses the influence of phenology‐related intraseasonal asynchrony on metapopulation dynamics and stability. As the part played by intraseasonal asynchrony is as yet unclear and poorly described, greater account of it should be taken in both metapopulation research and conservation practice. The subpopulations of the Parnassius mnemosyne metapopulation studied here are strongly isolated because of the phenological shift between them, despite the relatively small physical distances between them. This isolation is the result of a significant temporal shift in the species' flight periods in the main metapopulation centers: in some seasons its flight times in the different subpopulations did not overlap at all. The predicted results of such strong intraseasonal asynchrony are not altogether clear. On the one hand, they reduce the vulnerability of the entire metapopulation to the effects of short‐term random disasters. On the other, the ever‐greater isolation of subpopulations may cause the metapopulation to become a nonequilibrium one, which will have a serious impact on its long‐term survival. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Freshwater mussels are one of the most endangered groups of animals. Translocation is a common conservation measure for protecting them, but the success of this procedure varies widely, and the reasons for failure are frequently unknown.The dispersal and mortality of freshwater mussels was studied using a novel method: the radio tracking of Unio crassus translocated to new sites during a reintroduction project for this threatened species in the River Biała (Poland).Individual mussels were equipped with radio transmitters (10 mussels at each of four sites during low water in autumn, and 10 mussels at each of 11 sites during the spring flood). After being released into the water, the mussels generally moved away from the bank, and then performed erratic movements, dispersing over a larger area on flat parts of the riverbed, finally congregating on steep parts of the river bed in shallow water (0.20 m) near the bank.Mussel mortality was surprisingly low: all survived the autumn trial, and 80% of the radio‐tracked adults survived the spring flood. Some of them were displaced quite far within the channel (>100 m), apparently suffering no harm. The confirmed cases of mortality were a few individuals that had become stranded on gravel bars formed during the flood that were now drying out.Long‐distance displacement was more frequent in lotic or regulated parts of the channel and in the parts where the channel morphology was unstable during the flood.Radiotelemetry should be used to test the suitability of receptor sites before translocation, in order to find places where mussels will choose to stay, and to standardize mussel detectability when monitoring relocation success. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Backgroundand Aim: Patients with acute pulmonary embolism (APE) associated with hemodynamic instability, i.e. high-risk APE (HR-APE), are at risk for early mortality and require urgent reperfusion therapy with thrombolysis or embolectomy. However, a considerable proportion of HR-APE subjects is not reperfused but only anticoagulated due to high bleeding risk. The aim of the present study was to assess the management of HR-APE in a single large-volume referral center. Methods: A single-center retrospective study of 32 HR-APE subjects identified among 823 consecutive patients hospitalized for symptomatic APE. Results: Out of 32 subjects with HR-APE (19 women, age 69 ± 19 years), 20 patients were unstable at admission and 12 subsequently deteriorated despite on-going anticoagulation. Th rombolysis was applied in 20 (62.5%) of HR-APE subjects, limited mainly by classical contraindications in the remainder. Percutaneous pulmonary embolectomy was performed in 4 patients. In-hospital PE-related mortality tended to be higher, albeit insignificantly, in the patients who developed hemodynamic collapse during the hospital course compared to those unstable at admission (67% vs. 40%, p = 0.14). Also, survival was slightly better in 22 patients treated with thrombolysis or percutaneous embolectomy in comparison to 10 subjects who received only anticoagulation (54% vs. 40%, p = 0.2). Major non-fatal bleedings occurred in 7 of 20 patients receiving thrombolysis (35%) and in 2 (17%) of the remaining non-thrombolysed 12 HR-APE subjects. Conclusions: Hemodynamically instability, corresponding to the definition of HR-APE, aff ects about 4% of patients with APE, developing during the hospital course in approximately one-third of HR-APE subjects. As almost 40% of patients with HR-APE do not receive thrombolytic therapy for fear of bleeding, urgent percutaneous catheter-assisted embolectomy may increase the percentage of patients with HR-APE undergoing reperfusion therapy. Further studies are warranted for a proper identification of initially stable intermediate-risk APE subjects at risk of hemodynamic collapse despite appropriate anticoagulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper uses a dynamic stochastic general equilibrium model of a two-sector small open economy to analyze how the Maastricht criteria modify a fully credible optimal monetary policy in the Economic and Monetary Union accession countries. We show that if the country is not constrained by the criteria, optimal policy should stabilize fluctuations in PPI inflation, in the aggregate output gap, and in the domestic and international terms of trade. The optimal policy constrained permanently by the Maastricht criteria is characterized by reduced variability of the nominal exchange rate, CPI inflation, and the nominal interest rate and by lower optimal targets for CPI inflation and nominal interest rate. This policy results in higher variability and nonzero means for both PPI inflation and output gap, thus leading to additional, but small, welfare costs compared with the unconstrained policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Malignant cells are known to enhance glucose metabolism, to increase glucose uptake and to inhibit the process of oxidative phosphorylation. Accelerated glycolysis is one of the biochemical characteristics of cancer cells that allow them to compensate the inefficient extraction of energy from glucose in order to continue their uncontrolled growth and proliferation. Upregulation of glucose transport across the plasma membrane is mediated by a family of facilitated glucose transporter proteins named GLUT. Overexpression of GLUTs, especially the hypoxia-responsive GLUT1, has been frequently observed in various human carcinomas. Many studies have reported a correlation between GLUT1 expression level and the grade of tumor aggressiveness, which suggests that GLUT1 expression may be of prognostic significance. Therefore, GLUT1 is a key rate-limiting factor in the transport and glucose metabolism in cancer cells. This paper presents the current state of knowledge on GLUT1 regulation as well as its utility in the diagnosis and therapy of cancers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Main purpose of an article is diagnosing of meaning of internal communication in functioning enterprises in Poland. Article consists of two parts. The first part describes the place of internal communication in business communication system structure characterizing the two planes of communication activities: internal and external. This section presents the steps of the communication audit properly. The second part of the article presents the results of studies on the subject of internal communication in Polish enterprises. Included 119 surveyed companies varied in terms of: number of employees and sector in which the enterprise operates. The aim of this study was to obtain answers to questions concerning the identification of problems related to internal communication, the importance of communication in organizations, an indication of the implemented and planned solutions and tools for internal communication. The authors of this article basing on the results of empirical studies carried out by market research company named GFMP Management Consultants, there were realized in November 2010 in polish enterprises. The analysis of the studies carried out clearly demonstrates the increasing role of communication in an organization. More and more company managers look for sources that allow building their competitive advantage basing on the organizational culture and people. Persons responsible for communication processes in an organization have an important role - to strengthen such awareness continuously. The main task of activities taken in the area of communication is to support the implementation of company's strategy. Such activities should be coordinated under a strategy of communication, which is still absent in many companies, and linked with the company's strategy. The condition for developing an effective strategy is to make a right diagnosis of the initial situation and measure the effects of the implementation of this strategy. Showing the managing staff the valuable data, which prove the correctness of the activities taken, contributes actually to increasing the importance of communication in an organization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Venous thromboembolism is a relevant complication in patients operated for oncological reasons. Authors discuss the problem of primary and secondary thromboprophylaxis in this group of patients on the basis of the case of woman with recurrence of urinary bladder carcinoma, in whom palliative, abdominal operation was performed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]