Forecasting the FOMC's interest rate setting behavior: a further analysis

We develop a model to forecast the Federal Open Market Committee's (FOMC's) interest rate setting behavior in a nonstationary discrete choice model framework by Hu and Phillips (2004). We find that if the model selection criterion is strictly empirical, correcting for nonstationarity is extremely important, whereas it may not be an issue if one has an a priori model. Evaluating an array of models in terms of their out‐of‐sample forecasting ability, we find that those favored by the in‐sample criteria perform worst, while theory‐based models perform best. We find the best model for forecasting the FOMC's behavior is a forward‐looking Taylor rule model. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Drug metabolism in spontaneously diabetic guinea pigs

Summary Both sexes of spontaneously diabetic guinea pigs exhibit hyperinsulinemia (>4-fold normal). This diabetic state is associated with the inhibition of hepatic drug metabolism in males but not females.Supported in part by NIH Grants AM 21282 from the NIAMDD and RR00469 from the DRR     

Liver catalysis in the association of estrogen to protein

Zusammenfassung Die Inkubation von 16-C¹⁴-Oestron und 4-C¹⁴-Oestradiol--acetat in Puffer (pH 7.4) bei Gegenwart von Rattenleber ergibt elektrophoretisch zwei deutliche radioaktive Bänder. Das erste Band entsteht im Albuminbereich und stimmt mit den früheren Beobachtungen vonSzego undRoberts ² überein. Das zweite, früher nicht beschriebene Band entsteht deutlich ausserhalb des Albuminbereiches. Beide Kurvengipfel werden mit wenig homogenisierter Rattenleber, die möglichst frei von Mikrosomen ist, gewonnen. Der zweite Gipfelpunkt wird in diesem Fall der obenauf schwimmenden Phase zugeschrieben.     

The Collaborative Cross, a community resource for the genetic analysis of complex traits

The goal of the Complex Trait Consortium is to promote the development of resources that can be used to understand, treat and ultimately prevent pervasive human diseases. Existing and proposed mouse resources that are optimized to study the actions of isolated genetic loci on a fixed background are less effective for studying intact polygenic networks and interactions among genes, environments, pathogens and other factors. The Collaborative Cross will provide a common reference panel specifically designed for the integrative analysis of complex systems and will change the way we approach human health and disease.     

The G-netics of dark skin

Several mutant strains of mice have dark skin pigmentation due to an aberrant accumulation of pigment-producing melanocytes in the dermal layer of the skin. A new study shows that three such strains carry activating mutations in the genes encoding the G-protein subunits Galphaq or Galpha11, resulting in more pigment cell precursors and an excess of dermally retained pigment cells at birth.