Strong dependence in the nominal exchange rates of the Polish zloty

We examine the nominal exchange rates of six currencies (Canadian, Australian and U.S. dollars, euro, Japanese yen and U.K. pound) against the Polish zloty by means of statistical techniques based on unit roots and other long memory processes. We use both parametric and semiparametric methods for estimating and testing integer and fractional orders of integration at the long run or zero frequency. The results show that unit roots are likely to occur in relation with the U.S. and the Canadian dollars, the Japanese yen and the U.K. pound. However, for the Australian dollar and the euro, this hypothesis is rejected in favour of smaller degrees of integration, implying mean reversion in their behaviour. Thus, for the former currencies, in the event of an exogenous shock affecting the exchange rates, strong policy actions must be required to bring the variables back to their original levels. On the other hand, for the Australian dollar and the euro, there exists less need of action since the series will return to their levels sometime in the future. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Toward functionalized conducting polymers: synthesis and characterization of novel beta-(styryl)terthiophenes

Metal-catalyzed coupling methodologies have been employed in the synthesis of the key building block 3'-formyl-2,2':5',2"-terthiophene. Wittig olefinations with this aldehyde have produced five novel beta-styryl-substituted terthiophene monomers. These materials have been fully characterized by NMR spectroscopy, microanalysis, mass spectrometry, and X-ray crystal structure analysis. The results from the UV/visible spectroscopy and cyclic voltammetric investigations are reported.     

Efficient synthesis of brominated tetrathiafulvalene (TTF) derivatives: solid-state structure and electrochemical behaviour

An efficient synthesis is reported for 4,5-dibromo-[1,3]dithiole-2-thione (1) and 4-bromo-1,3-dithiole-2-thione (7) by bromination of lithiated vinylene trithiocarbonate. Compound 1 acts as a convenient precursor to a number of asymmetric electron donors. This is exemplified by the formation of 4,5-dibromo-4′,5′-bis(2′-cyanoethylsulfanyl)TTF (3) by cross-coupling methodology and subsequent conversion into 4,5-dibromo-4′,5′-ethylenedithioTTF (4) by reaction with caesium hydroxide and 1,2-dibromoethane. The new donor 4,5-dibromo-4′,5′-ethylenedithiodiselenadithiafulvalene (5) was prepared by cross-coupling of 1 and 4,5-ethylenedithio-1,3-diselenol-2-one (6). The X-ray structures of 3 and 5 are reported.     

Traumatic Stress,Chronic Ethanol Exposure,or the Combination,Alter Cannabinoid System Components in Reward and Limbic Regions of the Mouse Brain

The cannabinoid system is independently affected by stress and chronic ethanol exposure. However, the extent to which co-occurrence of traumatic stress and chronic ethanol exposure modulates the cannabinoid system remains unclear. We examined levels of cannabinoid system components, anandamide, 2-arachidonoylglycerol, fatty acid amide hydrolase, and monoacylglycerol lipase after mouse single-prolonged stress (mSPS) or non-mSPS (Control) exposure, with chronic intermittent ethanol (CIE) vapor or without CIE vapor (Air) across several brain regions using ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry or immunoblotting. Compared to mSPS-Air mice, anandamide and 2-arachidonoylglycerol levels in the anterior striatum were increased in mSPS-CIE mice. In the dorsal hippocampus, anandamide content was increased in Control-CIE mice compared to Control-Air, mSPS-Air, or mSPS-CIE mice. Finally, amygdalar anandamide content was increased in Control-CIE mice compared to Control-Air, or mSPS-CIE mice, but the anandamide content was decreased in mSPS-CIE compared to mSPS-Air mice. Based on these data we conclude that the effects of combined traumatic stress and chronic ethanol exposure on the cannabinoid system in reward pathway regions are driven by CIE exposure and that traumatic stress affects the cannabinoid components in limbic regions, warranting future investigation of neurotherapeutic treatment to attenuate these effects.     

Foliations by curves on threefolds

We study the conormal sheaves and singular schemes of one-dimensional foliations on smooth projective varieties X of dimension 3 and Picard rank 1. We prove that if the singular scheme has dimension 0, then the conormal sheaf is μ-stable whenever the tangent bundle $TX$ is stable, and apply this fact to the characterization of certain irreducible components of the moduli space of rank 2 reflexive sheaves on ${\mathbb{P}}^3$ and on a smooth quadric hypersurface $Q_3\subset {\mathbb{P}}^4$. Finally, we give a classification of local complete intersection foliations, that is, foliations with locally free conormal sheaves, of degree 0 and 1 on Q₃.