WorldWideScience

Sample records for trade geographic area

  1. Tracing the geographic origin of traded leopard body parts in the indian subcontinent with DNA-based assignment tests.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mondol, Samrat; Sridhar, Vanjulavalli; Yadav, Prasanjeet; Gubbi, Sanjay; Ramakrishnan, Uma

    2015-04-01

    Illicit trade in wildlife products is rapidly decimating many species across the globe. Such trade is often underestimated for wide-ranging species until it is too late for the survival of their remaining populations. Policing this trade could be vastly improved if one could reliably determine geographic origins of illegal wildlife products and identify areas where greater enforcement is needed. Using DNA-based assignment tests (i.e., samples are assigned to geographic locations), we addressed these factors for leopards (Panthera pardus) on the Indian subcontinent. We created geography-specific allele frequencies from a genetic reference database of 173 leopards across India to infer geographic origins of DNA samples from 40 seized leopard skins. Sensitivity analyses of samples of known geographic origins and assignments of seized skins demonstrated robust assignments for Indian leopards. We found that confiscated pelts seized in small numbers were not necessarily from local leopards. The geographic footprint of large seizures appeared to be bigger than the cumulative footprint of several smaller seizures, indicating widespread leopard poaching across the subcontinent. Our seized samples had male-biased sex ratios, especially the large seizures. From multiple seized sample assignments, we identified central India as a poaching hotspot for leopards. The techniques we applied can be used to identify origins of seized illegal wildlife products and trade routes at the subcontinent scale and beyond. © 2014 Society for Conservation Biology.

  2. Using the Gravity Model to Delineate a Trade Area: A Class Project.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dzik, Anthony J.

    1992-01-01

    Reports that students who might be bored or intimidated by economic geographic theory become enthusiastic when they can apply it to their own experiences. Describes a class project involving fieldwork and in-class analysis on delineating the retail trade area of a small Ohio city. Includes three maps and mathematical formulae for data analysis.…

  3. INDONESIAN TRADE UNDER CHINA FREE TRADE AREA

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tavi Supriana

    2011-09-01

    Full Text Available This paper investigates the implementation of CAFTA (China-Asean Free Trade Area on the international trade flows across Indonesia, China and the rest of ASEAN using a gravitation model. It finds the evidence that the influence of diversion and creation effects on China are significant, while the influence of both effects on Indonesia are not significant. It also finds that the diversion effect, which leads to a decrease in society’s wealth, is greater than that of the creation effect. As a consequence, the gap across countries involved in the trade agreement is wider. Keywords: CAFTA, gravitation model, diversion effect, creation effectJEL classification numbers: F13, F14, F15

  4. Use of geographical information systems for delimiting health service areas in China

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Xuechen Xiong

    2017-05-01

    Full Text Available With the objective of choosing a practical and valid method to delimit health service areas of regional health service centres to build a regional basic health service network, we first drew lessons from traditional geographic methods of delimiting trade areas and then applied two methods to delimit health service areas, i.e. the proximal method and the gravity method. We verified the effectiveness of these methods by an index of similarity with the aid of real in-patient data. Calculation of the similarity indices shows that health service areas delimited by the proximal method has an 87.3% similarity to the real health service area, while the gravity method gives 88.6%. Our conclusion is that both methods are suitable for delimiting health service areas at regional health service centres, but find that the proximal method is more practicable in operational terms for delimiting health service areas in region health planning.

  5. 76 FR 41855 - Columbus Geographic Systems (GIS) Ltd.; Order of Suspension of Trading

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-07-15

    ... SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION [File No. 500-1] Columbus Geographic Systems (GIS) Ltd.; Order of Suspension of Trading July 13, 2011. It appears to the Securities and Exchange Commission that... Systems (GIS) Ltd. because it has not filed any periodic reports since the period ended June 30, 2008. The...

  6. 47 CFR 22.911 - Cellular geographic service area.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-10-01

    ... Cellular Geographic Service Area (CGSA) of a cellular system is the geographic area considered by the FCC... application for modification of the CGSA using FCC Form 601, a depiction of what the carrier believes the CGSA... location and the locus of points where the predicted or measured median field strength finally drops to 32...

  7. Modeling the spatio-temporal dynamics of porcine reproductive & respiratory syndrome cases at farm level using geographical distance and pig trade network matrices.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Amirpour Haredasht, Sara; Polson, Dale; Main, Rodger; Lee, Kyuyoung; Holtkamp, Derald; Martínez-López, Beatriz

    2017-06-07

    Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS) is one of the most economically devastating infectious diseases for the swine industry. A better understanding of the disease dynamics and the transmission pathways under diverse epidemiological scenarios is a key for the successful PRRS control and elimination in endemic settings. In this paper we used a two step parameter-driven (PD) Bayesian approach to model the spatio-temporal dynamics of PRRS and predict the PRRS status on farm in subsequent time periods in an endemic setting in the US. For such purpose we used information from a production system with 124 pig sites that reported 237 PRRS cases from 2012 to 2015 and from which the pig trade network and geographical location of farms (i.e., distance was used as a proxy of airborne transmission) was available. We estimated five PD models with different weights namely: (i) geographical distance weight which contains the inverse distance between each pair of farms in kilometers, (ii) pig trade weight (PT ji ) which contains the absolute number of pig movements between each pair of farms, (iii) the product between the distance weight and the standardized relative pig trade weight, (iv) the product between the standardized distance weight and the standardized relative pig trade weight, and (v) the product of the distance weight and the pig trade weight. The model that included the pig trade weight matrix provided the best fit to model the dynamics of PRRS cases on a 6-month basis from 2012 to 2015 and was able to predict PRRS outbreaks in the subsequent time period with an area under the ROC curve (AUC) of 0.88 and the accuracy of 85% (105/124). The result of this study reinforces the importance of pig trade in PRRS transmission in the US. Methods and results of this study may be easily adapted to any production system to characterize the PRRS dynamics under diverse epidemic settings to more timely support decision-making.

  8. TRADE AND POLITICS IN THE PACIFIC AREA:TRENDS IN MULTILATERAL TRADE NEGOTIATIONS

    OpenAIRE

    Florin Bonciu

    2014-01-01

    The paper analyzes the ongoing multilateral trade negotiations from the Asia – Pacific area in the larger context of the shift of the economic center of the world economy from the Atlantic to the Pacific area. The high economic dynamism of the region has been accompanied in the past two decades by the establishment of a large number of bilateral and multilateral free trade agreements that included in many cases regulations on investments and other topics. In the wake of the Doha Round of nego...

  9. Assessing trade-offs in large marine protected areas.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Davies, Tammy E; Epstein, Graham; Aguilera, Stacy E; Brooks, Cassandra M; Cox, Michael; Evans, Louisa S; Maxwell, Sara M; Nenadovic, Mateja; Ban, Natalie C

    2018-01-01

    Large marine protected areas (LMPAs) are increasingly being established and have a high profile in marine conservation. LMPAs are expected to achieve multiple objectives, and because of their size are postulated to avoid trade-offs that are common in smaller MPAs. However, evaluations across multiple outcomes are lacking. We used a systematic approach to code several social and ecological outcomes of 12 LMPAs. We found evidence of three types of trade-offs: trade-offs between different ecological resources (supply trade-offs); trade-offs between ecological resource conditions and the well-being of resource users (supply-demand trade-offs); and trade-offs between the well-being outcomes of different resource users (demand trade-offs). We also found several divergent outcomes that were attributed to influences beyond the scope of the LMPA. We suggest that despite their size, trade-offs can develop in LMPAs and should be considered in planning and design. LMPAs may improve their performance across multiple social and ecological objectives if integrated with larger-scale conservation efforts.

  10. Past, Present and Future: GATT, Free Trade Areas and... the World Trade Organization?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gonzalo Bernardos

    1995-07-01

    Full Text Available The aims of this article are, on the one hand, to carry out a reconsideration of the workings of the commercial system since the Bretton Woods agreements and, on the other hand, to make some reflections regarding the function that the World Trade Organizationmust carry out in the future in a world divided, probably just like now, in regional areas of free trade. In order to achieve these aims the following are specified: the bases on which the liberalization of trade has been founded after the Second World War, the causes whichprovoked the wave of protectionism in the Eighties, the reasons which have brought about the division of the world into trading blocks as well as the need for an organization which encourages inter-regional trade and reduces the commercial wars between these blocks.

  11. ASEAN - China Free Trade Area : A quantitative study of Trade diversion and Trade creation effects on ASEAN - China trade flows

    OpenAIRE

    Duong Xuan, Vinh

    2011-01-01

    The Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) and China have a long history of trading with each other. They are economic partners as well as competitors for many years. In order to push their economic relationship to a higher level, in November 2002, ASEAN and China signed the initial framework agreement, determined on establishing the ASEAN - China Free Trade Area (ACFTA) among the eleven countries by 2010 for the ASEAN-6 (Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand)...

  12. The Outlier Sectors: Areas of Non-Free Trade in the North American Free Trade Agreement

    OpenAIRE

    Eric T. Miller

    2002-01-01

    Since its entry into force, the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) has been enormously influential as a model for trade liberalization. While trade in goods among Canada, the United States and Mexico has been liberalized to a significant degree, this most famous of agreements nonetheless contains areas of recalcitrant protectionism. The first part of this paper identifies these "outlier sectors" and classifies them by primary source advocating protectionism, i.e., producer interests ...

  13. Trade issues and area-wide pest management

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Griffin, Robert L.

    2000-01-01

    Food security and economic security are unarguably desirable objectives for all nations - indeed for the world. Equally important is the sustainability of designs that achieve these objectives without disadvantaging others or damaging the environment. Considering area-wide pest management in the context of these interrelated global policy forces is essential to fully understand its role in both the protection of plant resources and in facilitation of trade. The case for food security begins with the realisation that there are currently about 800 million people in the world who are suffering from malnutrition due to lack of food. The World Food Summit, convened in November 1996, urgently called for coordinated world-wide action to ensure 'food for all'. A key strategy for realising this goal is reducing losses due to plant pests. In this light, area-wide pest management can be viewed as a valuable addition to the toolbox of pest management strategies. It can also be one of the most sustainable and cost-effective options to consider for pest management. However, just as the problem of world hunger is not solved by a single farmer, area-wide pest management cannot be successful at the individual level. It requires commitment and cooperation to make it feasible - the same type of commitment and cooperation that was expressed at the World Food Summit. Where economic security is concerned, one need not look far to see a world of growing economic integration and widening circles of development. As the World Trade Organisation celebrates the 50th anniversary of the rules-based trading system which began with the GATT after World War II, it is clear that globalisation and the liberalisation of trade have become permanent fixtures in international policy formulation and are integral to the economic security of all nations. Now, more than ever before, the world's prosperity rests on maintaining an open international economy based on commonly agreed rules. The significance of

  14. 40 CFR 51.25 - What geographic area must my state's inventory cover?

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ... Emissions Reporting Requirements Specific Reporting Requirements § 51.25 What geographic area must my state... 40 Protection of Environment 2 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false What geographic area must my state's inventory cover? 51.25 Section 51.25 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (CONTINUED...

  15. Historiographical reflections on local and transit trade relations on the Prut-Dniester area and the Lower Danube (late 13th - 14th century

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Silvia Barcari

    2013-12-01

    Full Text Available Due to the geographical position of the Prut-Dniester and the Lower Danube regions, there were lying the important trade routes and the important transit trade was carried out that in some ways contributed to their economic development. Through Transylvania and Wallachia there passed trade route linking the Western and Central Europe with the Black Sea region and the Balkan Peninsula and reaching the cities of the Adriatic coast; through the area of future Moldova there passed a road connecting the Baltic and the Black Seas. In transit trade there were involved Italian merchants from the Levant, Armenian merchants of Poland, and Transylvanian Saxons, who traded here "overseas goods": from the East - pepper, spices, from Western and Central Europe - cloth, linen, weapons, agricultural tools. In return, foreign merchants were buying in these areas cattle, horses, hides, wax, grain, etc. Need in money, especially the fractional coins often needed in small business transactions, has led to cutting coins into equal parts and stamping local imitations of foreign coins. In the 14th century in the mouth of the Danube there is attested the existence of "banks" and "bankers" engaged in exchange of money. Trading activity was stimulated by the transit of goods on major trade routes of Europe, as well as the opening of the local market for high-quality goods of the European market. The expansion of trade exchange contributed to the economic prosperity of the independent Romanian states and increasing of their military power that brought them to the international political arena.

  16. 75 FR 30782 - Reorganization/Expansion of Foreign-Trade Zone 20; Hampton Roads, VA, Area

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-06-02

    ... DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE Foreign-Trade Zones Board [Order No. 1683] Reorganization/Expansion of Foreign-Trade Zone 20; Hampton Roads, VA, Area Pursuant to its authority under the Foreign-Trade Zones Act...) in the Hampton Roads, Virginia, area within the Norfolk Customs and Border Protection port of entry...

  17. The continental free trade area

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Sandrey, Ron; Jensen, Hans Grinsted

    The Trade Law Centre (tralac) has recently capitalised upon the prerelease Version 9.2 of the Global Trade Analysis Project (GTAP) database and the recent excellent data sets from the World Bank and other publishing quality data on trade barriers across the African continent. It undertook a series...... of simulations examining regional integration and intra-African trade barrier reductions. The results for tariff elimination on intra-African trade are promising. But the real news is in confirming that these barriers are not as significant as the various trade-related barriers except for tariffs. Especially...... impressive results were forecast by simulating a modest 20% reduction in the costs associated with the particular African problem of transit time delays at customs, terminals and internal land transportation. These gains are significantly above both just intraAfrican tariff elimination and what may...

  18. Burn Pre-Approval Area, Geographic NAD83, LOSCO (2000) [burn_preapproval_area_LOSCO_2000

    Data.gov (United States)

    Louisiana Geographic Information Center — This is a region dataset delineating the areas of offshore Louisiana having Regional Response Team VI (RRT 6) pre-approval for the use of in-situ burning, according...

  19. Geographic variation and effect of area-level poverty rate on colorectal cancer screening

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Schootman Mario

    2008-10-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background With a secular trend of increasing colorectal cancer (CRC screening, concerns about disparities in CRC screening also have been rising. It is unclear if CRC screening varies geographically, if area-level poverty rate affects CRC screening, and if individual-level characteristics mediate the area-level effects on CRC screening. Methods Using 2006 Missouri Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS data, a multilevel study was conducted to examine geographic variation and the effect of area-level poverty rate on CRC screening use among persons age 50 or older. Individuals were nested within ZIP codes (ZIP5 areas, which in turn, were nested within aggregations of ZIP codes (ZIP3 areas. Six groups of individual-level covariates were considered as potential mediators. Results An estimated 51.8% of Missourians aged 50 or older adhered to CRC screening recommendations. Nearly 15% of the total variation in CRC screening lay between ZIP5 areas. Persons residing in ZIP5 areas with ≥ 10% of poverty rate had lower odds of CRC screening use than those residing in ZIP5 areas with Conclusion Large geographic variation of CRC screening exists in Missouri. Area-level poverty rate, independent of individual-level characteristics, is a significant predictor of CRC screening, but it only explains a small portion of the geographic heterogeneity of CRC screening. Individual-level factors we examined do not mediate the effect of the area-level poverty rate on CRC screening. Future studies should identify other area- and individual-level characteristics associated with CRC screening in Missouri.

  20. Identifying areas of need relative to liver disease: geographic clustering within a health service district.

    Science.gov (United States)

    El-Atem, Nathan; Irvine, Katharine M; Valery, Patricia C; Wojcik, Kyle; Horsfall, Leigh; Johnson, Tracey; Janda, Monika; McPhail, Steven M; Powell, Elizabeth E

    2017-08-01

    Background Many people with chronic liver disease (CLD) are not detected until they present to hospital with advanced disease, when opportunities for intervention are reduced and morbidity is high. In order to build capacity and liver expertise in the community, it is important to focus liver healthcare resources in high-prevalence disease areas and specific populations with an identified need. The aim of the present study was to examine the geographic location of people seen in a tertiary hospital hepatology clinic, as well as ethnic and sociodemographic characteristics of these geographic areas. Methods The geographic locations of hepatology out-patients were identified via the out-patient scheduling database and grouped into statistical area (SA) regions for demographic analysis using data compiled by the Australian Bureau of Statistics. Results During the 3-month study period, 943 individuals from 71 SA Level 3 regions attended clinic. Nine SA Level 3 regions accounted for 55% of the entire patient cohort. Geographic clustering was seen especially for people living with chronic hepatitis B virus. There was a wide spectrum of socioeconomic advantage and disadvantage in areas with high liver disease prevalence. Conclusions The geographic area from which people living with CLD travel to access liver health care is extensive. However, the greatest demand for tertiary liver disease speciality care is clustered within specific geographic areas. Outreach programs targeted to these areas may enhance liver disease-specific health service resourcing. What is known about the topic? The demand for tertiary hospital clinical services in CLD is rising. However, there is limited knowledge about the geographic areas from which people living with CLD travel to access liver services, or the ethnic, socioeconomic and education characteristics of these areas. What does this paper add? The present study demonstrates that a substantial proportion of people living with CLD and

  1. Evaluating Trade Areas Using Social Media Data with a Calibrated Huff Model

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yandong Wang

    2016-07-01

    Full Text Available Delimitating trade areas is a major business concern. Today, mobile communication technologies make it possible to use social media data for this purpose. Few studies however, have focused on methods to extract suitable samples from social media data for trade area delimitation. In our case study, we divided Beijing into regular grid cells and extracted activity centers for each social media user. Ten sample sets were obtained by selecting users based on the retail agglomerations they visited and aggregating user activity centers to each grid cell. We calculated distance and visitation frequency attributes for each user and each grid cell. The distance value of a grid cell is the average distance of user activity centers in this grid cell to a retail agglomeration. The visitation frequency of a grid cell refers to the average count of visits to retail agglomerations by user activity centers for a cell. The calculated attribute values of 10 sets were input into a Huff model and the delimitated trade areas were evaluated. Results show that sets obtained by aggregating user activity centers have a better delimitating effect than sets obtained without aggregation. Differences in the distribution and intensity of trade areas also became apparent.

  2. Dispersant Pre-Approval Area, Geographic NAD83, LOSCO (1999) d[ispersant_preapproval_area_LOSCO_1999

    Data.gov (United States)

    Louisiana Geographic Information Center — This is a region dataset delineating the areas of offshore Louisiana having Regional Response Team VI (RRT 6) pre-approval for the use of dispersants to break up an...

  3. 31 CFR 585.218 - Trade in United Nations Protected Areas of Croatia and those areas of the Republic of Bosnia and...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ... HERZEGOVINA SANCTIONS REGULATIONS Prohibitions § 585.218 Trade in United Nations Protected Areas of Croatia... importation from, exportation to, or transshipment of goods through the United Nations Protected Areas in the... 31 Money and Finance: Treasury 3 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Trade in United Nations Protected...

  4. Trade routes and plague transmission in pre-industrial Europe.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yue, Ricci P H; Lee, Harry F; Wu, Connor Y H

    2017-10-11

    Numerous historical works have mentioned that trade routes were to blame for the spread of plague in European history, yet this relationship has never been tested by quantitative evidence. Here, we resolve the hypothetical role of trade routes through statistical analysis on the geo-referenced major trade routes in the early modern period and the 6,656 geo-referenced plague outbreak records in AD1347-1760. Ordinary Least Square (OLS) estimation results show that major trade routes played a dominant role in spreading plague in pre-industrial Europe. Furthermore, the negative correlation between plague outbreaks and their distance from major trade ports indicates the absence of a permanent plague focus in the inland areas of Europe. Major trade routes decided the major plague outbreak hotspots, while navigable rivers determined the geographic pattern of sporadic plague cases. A case study in Germany indicates that plague penetrated further into Europe through the local trade route network. Based on our findings, we propose the mechanism of plague transmission in historical Europe, which is imperative in demonstrating how pandemics were spread in recent human history.

  5. Geographic variation and effect of area-level poverty rate on colorectal cancer screening.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lian, Min; Schootman, Mario; Yun, Shumei

    2008-10-16

    With a secular trend of increasing colorectal cancer (CRC) screening, concerns about disparities in CRC screening also have been rising. It is unclear if CRC screening varies geographically, if area-level poverty rate affects CRC screening, and if individual-level characteristics mediate the area-level effects on CRC screening. Using 2006 Missouri Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) data, a multilevel study was conducted to examine geographic variation and the effect of area-level poverty rate on CRC screening use among persons age 50 or older. Individuals were nested within ZIP codes (ZIP5 areas), which in turn, were nested within aggregations of ZIP codes (ZIP3 areas). Six groups of individual-level covariates were considered as potential mediators. An estimated 51.8% of Missourians aged 50 or older adhered to CRC screening recommendations. Nearly 15% of the total variation in CRC screening lay between ZIP5 areas. Persons residing in ZIP5 areas with > or = 10% of poverty rate had lower odds of CRC screening use than those residing in ZIP5 areas with poverty rate (unadjusted odds ratio [OR], 0.69; 95% confidence interval [95% CI], 0.58-0.81; adjusted OR, 0.81; 95% CI, 0.67-0.98). Persons who resided in ZIP3 areas with > or = 20% poverty rate also had lower odds of following CRC screening guidelines than those residing in ZIP3 areas with poverty rate (unadjusted OR, 0.66; 95% CI, 0.52-0.83; adjusted OR, 0.64; 95% CI, 0.50-0.83). Obesity, history of depression/anxiety and access to care were associated with CRC screening, but did not mediate the effect of area-level poverty on CRC screening. Large geographic variation of CRC screening exists in Missouri. Area-level poverty rate, independent of individual-level characteristics, is a significant predictor of CRC screening, but it only explains a small portion of the geographic heterogeneity of CRC screening. Individual-level factors we examined do not mediate the effect of the area-level poverty rate on

  6. Spatial variation of vulnerability in geographic areas of North Lebanon

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Issa, Sahar; van der Molen, I.; Nader, M.R.; Lovett, Jonathan Cranidge

    2014-01-01

    This paper examines the spatial variation in vulnerability between different geographical areas of the northern coastal region of Lebanon within the context of armed conflict. The study is based on the ‘vulnerability of space’ approach and will be positioned in the academic debate on vulnerability

  7. New Routes to Iran’s International Trade in the Safavid Era

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mohammad Ali Ranjbar

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available Safavid era (1501–1729 begins a new age in the history of Iran. With the beginning of the Safavid dynasty in Iran, Albuquerque, a Portuguese general, conquered Hormoz Island in southern Iran. ­Geographical ­discoveries, in general, and bypassing the Cape of Good Hope, in particular, in South Africa, changed traditional trade routes in Iran’s international trade. Under the new conditions that the Ottoman Empire held western areas of overland trade routes, Silk Road and Spice road failed in playing their former roles. On the other side, religious conflicts in the Safavid, Ottoman and Uzbek drew new plan of religious territories influencing road map. This paper tries to explain new map of Iran’s trade routes through ­studying Iran and economic and commercial requirements within 16th century.

  8. Child Labor and Trade Liberalization in Indonesia

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kis-Katos, Krisztina; Sparrow, Robert

    2011-01-01

    We examine the effects of trade liberalization on child work in Indonesia, identifying geographical differences in the effects of trade policy through district level exposure to reduction in import tariff barriers, from 1993 to 2002. The results suggest that increased exposure to trade liberalization is associated with a decrease in child work…

  9. Burn Exclusion Areas from USCG source data, Geographic NAD83, LOSCO (1999) [burn_exclusion_areas_USCG_1999

    Data.gov (United States)

    Louisiana Geographic Information Center — This is a polygon dataset delineating areas in the Gulf of Mexico that are excluded from Regional Response Team VI (RRT 6) pre-approval for the use of in-situ...

  10. Geographically varying associations between personality and life satisfaction in the London metropolitan area

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Jokela, M.; Bleidorn, W.; Lamb, M.E.; Gosling, S.D.; Rentfrow, P.J.

    2015-01-01

    Residential location is thought to influence people’s well-being, but different individuals may value residential areas differently. We examined how life satisfaction and personality traits are geographically distributed within the UK London metropolitan area, and how the strength of associations

  11. China’s provincial CO2 emissions embodied in international and interprovincial trade

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Guo Ju’e; Zhang Zengkai; Meng Lei

    2012-01-01

    Trades create a mechanism of embodied CO 2 emissions transfer among regions, causing distortion on the total emissions. As the world’s second largest economy, China has a large scale of trade, which results in the serious problem of embodied CO 2 emissions transfer. This paper analyzes the characteristics of China’s CO 2 emissions embodied in international and interprovincial trade from the provincial perspective. The multi-regional Input–Output Model is used to clarify provincial CO 2 emissions from geographical and sectoral dimensions, including 30 provinces and 28 sectors. Two calculating principles (production accounting principle and consumption accounting principle, ) are applied. The results show that for international trade, the eastern area accounts for a large proportion in China’s embodied CO 2 emissions. The sectors as net exporters and importers of embodied CO 2 emissions belong to labor-intensive and energy-intensive industries, respectively. For interprovincial trade, the net transfer of embodied CO 2 emissions is from the eastern area to the central area, and energy-intensive industries are the main contributors. With the largest amount of direct CO 2 emissions, the eastern area plays an important role in CO 2 emissions reduction. The central and western areas need supportive policies to avoid the transfer of industries with high emissions. - Highlights: ► China’s embodied CO 2 emissions are analyzed from the provincial perspective. ► Eastern provinces have larger CO 2 emissions embodied in international trade. ► Embodied CO 2 emissions are mainly transferred from eastern area to central area. ► Coastal provinces play important roles in CO 2 emissions reduction. ► Inland provinces need supportive policies on emissions reduction.

  12. 15 CFR 930.98 - Federally assisted activities outside of the coastal zone or the described geographic area.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ... of the coastal zone or the described geographic area. 930.98 Section 930.98 Commerce and Foreign... Federally assisted activities outside of the coastal zone or the described geographic area. State agencies should monitor proposed federal assistance activities outside of the coastal zone or the described...

  13. 31 CFR 585.524 - Humanitarian aid and trade in United Nations Protected Areas of Croatia and those areas of the...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ... Nations Protected Areas of Croatia and those areas of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina controlled by... Humanitarian aid and trade in United Nations Protected Areas of Croatia and those areas of the Republic of... in the Republic of Croatia and those areas of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina under the...

  14. Multidimensionality and Gravity in Global Trade, 1950-2000

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhou, Min

    2010-01-01

    The expansion of global trade in the post-war period is subject to various interpretations. Some stress the trade-promoting role of the novel features in the world economy; some insist on the role of traditional factors, such as geographic distance, political difference and cultural dissimilarity, in continuously depressing trade flows; others…

  15. Risks to Birds Traded for African Traditional Medicine: A Quantitative Assessment

    Science.gov (United States)

    Williams, Vivienne L.; Cunningham, Anthony B.; Kemp, Alan C.; Bruyns, Robin K.

    2014-01-01

    Few regional or continent-wide assessments of bird use for traditional medicine have been attempted anywhere in the world. Africa has the highest known diversity of bird species used for this purpose. This study assesses the vulnerability of 354 bird species used for traditional medicine in 25 African countries, from 205 genera, 70 families, and 25 orders. The orders most represented were Passeriformes (107 species), Falconiformes (45 species), and Coraciiformes (24 species), and the families Accipitridae (37 species), Ardeidae (15 species), and Bucerotidae (12 species). The Barn owl (Tyto alba) was the most widely sold species (seven countries). The similarity of avifaunal orders traded is high (analogous to “morphospecies”, and using Sørensen's index), which suggests opportunities for a common understanding of cultural factors driving demand. The highest similarity was between bird orders sold in markets of Benin vs. Burkina Faso (90%), but even bird orders sold in two geographically separated countries (Benin vs. South Africa and Nigeria vs. South Africa) were 87% and 81% similar, respectively. Rabinowitz's “7 forms of rarity” model, used to group species according to commonness or rarity, indicated that 24% of traded bird species are very common, locally abundant in several habitats, and occur over a large geographical area, but 10% are rare, occur in low numbers in specific habitats, and over a small geographical area. The order with the highest proportion of rare species was the Musophagiformes. An analysis of species mass (as a proxy for size) indicated that large and/or conspicuous species tend to be targeted by harvesters for the traditional medicine trade. Furthermore, based on cluster analyses for species groups of similar risk, vultures, hornbills, and other large avifauna, such as bustards, are most threatened by selective harvesting and should be prioritised for conservation action. PMID:25162700

  16. Risks to birds traded for African traditional medicine: a quantitative assessment.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Vivienne L Williams

    Full Text Available Few regional or continent-wide assessments of bird use for traditional medicine have been attempted anywhere in the world. Africa has the highest known diversity of bird species used for this purpose. This study assesses the vulnerability of 354 bird species used for traditional medicine in 25 African countries, from 205 genera, 70 families, and 25 orders. The orders most represented were Passeriformes (107 species, Falconiformes (45 species, and Coraciiformes (24 species, and the families Accipitridae (37 species, Ardeidae (15 species, and Bucerotidae (12 species. The Barn owl (Tyto alba was the most widely sold species (seven countries. The similarity of avifaunal orders traded is high (analogous to "morphospecies", and using Sørensen's index, which suggests opportunities for a common understanding of cultural factors driving demand. The highest similarity was between bird orders sold in markets of Benin vs. Burkina Faso (90%, but even bird orders sold in two geographically separated countries (Benin vs. South Africa and Nigeria vs. South Africa were 87% and 81% similar, respectively. Rabinowitz's "7 forms of rarity" model, used to group species according to commonness or rarity, indicated that 24% of traded bird species are very common, locally abundant in several habitats, and occur over a large geographical area, but 10% are rare, occur in low numbers in specific habitats, and over a small geographical area. The order with the highest proportion of rare species was the Musophagiformes. An analysis of species mass (as a proxy for size indicated that large and/or conspicuous species tend to be targeted by harvesters for the traditional medicine trade. Furthermore, based on cluster analyses for species groups of similar risk, vultures, hornbills, and other large avifauna, such as bustards, are most threatened by selective harvesting and should be prioritised for conservation action.

  17. Child Labor and Trade Liberalization in Indonesia

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    K.K. Krisztina (Kis-Katos); R.A. Sparrow (Robert)

    2009-01-01

    textabstractWe examine the effects of trade liberalization on child work in Indonesia. Our estimation strategy identifies geographical differences in the effects of trade policy through district level exposure to reduction in import tariff barriers. We use a balanced panel of 261 districts, based

  18. Internet trade and threat of the grey area

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Anna Ćwiąkała-Małys

    2012-06-01

    Full Text Available In recent years it has been of great interest to tax, fiscal and customs authorities how trade and services provided over the Internet develop. A long time ago it was stated that the intense development of the Internet contributes to the expansion of the grey area. The grey area’s functioning is very unfavourable to the state economy, because although it creates GDP, it does not directly support the state budget. When considering reduced inflows to the state budget and increases in the deficit, it is reasonable to take any and all actions in order to limit the grey area in each field of social and economic life. Thus, the interest of specialized public authorities in this field should not raise any concerns.

  19. Preliminary preview for a geographic and monitoring program project; a review of point source-nonpoint source effluent trading/offset systems in watersheds

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wood, Alexander Warren; Bernknopf, Richard L.

    2003-01-01

    Watershed-based trading and offset systems are being developed to improve policy-maker?s and regulator?s ability to assess nonpoint source impacts in watersheds and to evaluate the efficacy of using market-incentive programs for preserving environmental quality. An overview of the history of successful and failed trading programs throughout the United States suggests that certain political, economic, and scientific conditions within a temporal and spatial setting help meet water quality standards. The current lack of spontaneous trading among dischargers does not mean that a marketable permit trading system is an inherently inefficient regulatory approach. Rather, its infrequent use is the result of institutional and informational barriers. Improving and refining the earth science information and technologies may help determine whether trading is a suitable policy for improving water quality. However, it is debatable whether or not environmental information is the limiting factor. This paper reviews additional factors affecting the potential for instituting a trading policy. The motivation for investigating and reviewing the history of offsets and trading was inspired by a project in the preliminary stages being developed by U.S. Geological Survey Western Geographic Science Center and the Environmental Protection Agency Region IX. An offset feasibility study will be an integrated, map-based approach that incorporates environmental, economic, and statistical information to investigate the potential for using offsets to meet mercury Total Maximum Daily Loads in the Sacramento River watershed. A regional water-quality offset program is being studied that may help known point sources reduce mercury loading more cost effectively by the remediation of abandoned mines or other diffuse sources as opposed to more costly treatment at their own sites. An efficient offset program requires both a scientific basis and methods to translate that science into a regulatory decision

  20. 75 FR 27286 - McKelvie Geographic Area Range Allotment Management Planning on the Samuel R. McKelvie National...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-05-14

    ... range allotment management planning on the McKelvie Geographic Area, Samuel R. McKelvie National Forest... DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE Forest Service McKelvie Geographic Area Range Allotment Management Planning on the Samuel R. McKelvie National Forest, Bessey Ranger District in Nebraska AGENCY: Forest...

  1. Carbon trading: Current schemes and future developments

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Perdan, Slobodan; Azapagic, Adisa

    2011-01-01

    This paper looks at the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions trading schemes and examines the prospects of carbon trading. The first part of the paper gives an overview of several mandatory GHG trading schemes around the world. The second part focuses on the future trends in carbon trading. It argues that the emergence of new schemes, a gradual enlargement of the current ones, and willingness to link existing and planned schemes seem to point towards geographical, temporal and sectoral expansion of emissions trading. However, such expansion would need to overcome some considerable technical and non-technical obstacles. Linking of the current and emerging trading schemes requires not only considerable technical fixes and harmonisation of different trading systems, but also necessitates clear regulatory and policy signals, continuing political support and a more stable economic environment. Currently, the latter factors are missing. The global economic turmoil and its repercussions for the carbon market, a lack of the international deal on climate change defining the Post-Kyoto commitments, and unfavourable policy shifts in some countries, cast serious doubts on the expansion of emissions trading and indicate that carbon trading enters an uncertain period. - Highlights: → The paper provides an extensive overview of mandatory emissions trading schemes around the world. → Geographical, temporal and sectoral expansion of emissions trading are identified as future trends. → The expansion requires considerable technical fixes and harmonisation of different trading systems. → Clear policy signals, political support and a stable economic environment are needed for the expansion. → A lack of the post-Kyoto commitments and unfavourable policy shifts indicate an uncertain future for carbon trading.

  2. Nonattainment Areas in Louisiana, Geographic NAD83, EPA (2006) [Nonattainment_LA_EPA_2006

    Data.gov (United States)

    Louisiana Geographic Information Center — EPA Region 6 NonAttainment Areas in Louisiana, current as of May 2006. This shapefile contains parish boundaries and attributes that determine whether the parishes...

  3. Supplemental Security Income (SSI) Recipients by Geographic Area, Sex and Eligibility, December 2010

    Data.gov (United States)

    Social Security Administration — The Supplemental Security Income (SSI) Recipients by Geographic Area, Sex and Eligibility (December 2010) is produced using the data found in Table 10 from the SSI...

  4. Examining geographic patterns of mortality: the atlas of mortality in small areas in Spain (1987-1995).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Benach, Joan; Yasui, Yutaka; Borrell, Carme; Rosa, Elisabeth; Pasarín, M Isabel; Benach, Núria; Español, Esther; Martínez, José Miguel; Daponte, Antonio

    2003-06-01

    Small-area mortality atlases have been demonstrated to be a useful tool for both showing general geographical patterns in mortality data and identifying specific high-risk locations. In Spain no study has so far systematically examined geographic patterns of small-area mortality for the main causes of death. This paper presents the main features, contents and potential uses of the Spanish Atlas of Mortality in small areas (1987-1995). Population data for 2,218 small areas were drawn from the 1991 Census. Aggregated mortality data for 14 specific causes of death for the period 1987-1995 were obtained for each small area. Empirical Bayes-model-based estimates of age-adjusted relative risk were displayed in small-area maps for each cause/gender/age group (0-64 or 65 and over) combination using the same range of values (i.e. septiles) and colour schemes. The 'Spanish Atlas of Mortality' includes multiple choropleth (area-shaded) small-area maps and graphs to answer different questions about the data. The atlas is divided into three main sections. Section 1 includes the methods and comments on the main maps. Section 2 presents a two-page layout for each leading cause of death by gender including 1) a large map with relative risk estimates, 2) a map that indicates high- and low-risk small areas, 3) a graph with median and interquartile range of relative risk estimates for 17 large regions of Spain, and 4) relative-risk maps for two age groups. Section 3 provides specific information on the geographical units of analysis, statistical methods and other supplemental maps. The 'Spanish Atlas of Mortality' is a useful tool for examining geographical patterns of mortality risk and identifying specific high-risk areas. Mortality patterns displayed in the atlas may have important implications for research and social/health policy planning purposes.

  5. E-commerce trade in invasive plants.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Humair, Franziska; Humair, Luc; Kuhn, Fabian; Kueffer, Christoph

    2015-12-01

    Biological invasions are a major concern in conservation, especially because global transport of species is still increasing rapidly. Conservationists hope to anticipate and thus prevent future invasions by identifying and regulating potentially invasive species through species risk assessments and international trade regulations. Among many introduction pathways of non-native species, horticulture is a particularly important driver of plant invasions. In recent decades, the horticultural industry expanded globally and changed structurally through the emergence of new distribution channels, including internet trade (e-commerce). Using an automated search algorithm, we surveyed, on a daily basis, e-commerce trade on 10 major online auction sites (including eBay) of approximately three-fifths of the world's spermatophyte flora. Many recognized invasive plant species (>500 species) (i.e., species associated with ecological or socio-economic problems) were traded daily worldwide on the internet. A markedly higher proportion of invasive than non-invasive species were available online. Typically, for a particular plant family, 30-80% of recognized invasive species were detected on an auction site, but only a few percentages of all species in the plant family were detected on a site. Families that were more traded had a higher proportion of invasive species than families that were less traded. For woody species, there was a significant positive relationship between the number of regions where a species was sold and the number of regions where it was invasive. Our results indicate that biosecurity is not effectively regulating online plant trade. In the future, automated monitoring of e-commerce may help prevent the spread of invasive species, provide information on emerging trade connectivity across national borders, and be used in horizon scanning exercises for early detection of new species and their geographic source areas in international trade. © 2015 Society for

  6. Does Trade Help to Explain Tourism Demand? The Case of Portugal

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nuno Carlos LEITÃO

    2010-03-01

    Full Text Available The tourism industry has expanded in recent years due to internal and external environmental forces. These forces, income, trade, consumer price, and geographical distance are interconnected. Accounting for imperfect competition and increasing returns to scale, the new trade theory offers the explanation of dynamic gains from international trade. A large number of studies attempt to test the hypothesis that there is a link between trade and tourism. Most of the studies show that trade and tourism are positively correlated. This paper specifies static and dynamic panel demand models for tourism in Portugal and estimates demand equations using tourist inflow data for the period 1995-2006. We find that bilateral trade, immigration, border, and geographical distance between Portugal and countries of origin are the main determinants of tourism to Portugal. The dynamic panel data approach indicates that trade, population, and income are more important determinants than relative price.

  7. RECENT TRENDS IN THE FOOD TRADE SECTOR OF HUNGARY, THE EXAMPLE OF THE LAKE BALATON RESORT AREA

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Erzsébet PÉTER

    2007-12-01

    Full Text Available Following the political transformation of Hungary fundamental changes took place in the trading sector as a consequence of privatization. The influx of active capital considerably influenced the economy and due to its multiplying effects new enterprise management systems, new work comprehension, new service background were established to help the economy participants. Chain formation, trade companies and shopping centres having large floor-space moved into the area with their modern equipments and wide commodity assortment, assisted by foreign capital investment. At the same time national retail trade declined, micro enterprises with few employees lost their survival possibilities in the area. The reply of the food trade sector to the entry of well-capitalized enterprises in the area was that the “chain formation” of smaller retailers became more frequent in the last years in Hungary. This type of transformation made them capable of competing with the big companies.

  8. The effect of geographical centralization of education for outmigration from fringe areas

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Andersen, Hans Skifter

    During the last 25 years population in fringe areas in Denmark has declined. The main reason has been that young people leave these areas and seldom come back. In this study is examined the connection between young people’s outmigration, their choice of education and the location of educational...... institutions. It is shown that geographical centralization of education since 1990 and the tendency for more young people to choose higher education has resulted in an increase in the outmigration of young people from fringe areas...

  9. Geographic remoteness, area-level socioeconomic disadvantage and inequalities in colorectal cancer survival in Queensland: a multilevel analysis

    Science.gov (United States)

    2013-01-01

    Background To explore the impact of geographical remoteness and area-level socioeconomic disadvantage on colorectal cancer (CRC) survival. Methods Multilevel logistic regression and Markov chain Monte Carlo simulations were used to analyze geographical variations in five-year all-cause and CRC-specific survival across 478 regions in Queensland Australia for 22,727 CRC cases aged 20–84 years diagnosed from 1997–2007. Results Area-level disadvantage and geographic remoteness were independently associated with CRC survival. After full multivariate adjustment (both levels), patients from remote (odds Ratio [OR]: 1.24, 95%CrI: 1.07-1.42) and more disadvantaged quintiles (OR = 1.12, 1.15, 1.20, 1.23 for Quintiles 4, 3, 2 and 1 respectively) had lower CRC-specific survival than major cities and least disadvantaged areas. Similar associations were found for all-cause survival. Area disadvantage accounted for a substantial amount of the all-cause variation between areas. Conclusions We have demonstrated that the area-level inequalities in survival of colorectal cancer patients cannot be explained by the measured individual-level characteristics of the patients or their cancer and remain after adjusting for cancer stage. Further research is urgently needed to clarify the factors that underlie the survival differences, including the importance of geographical differences in clinical management of CRC. PMID:24152961

  10. The trade secrets protection in U.S. and in Europe: a comparative study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Chiara Gaido

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available Only by deeply understanding the new laws that govern trade secrets protection in the United States and Europe, companies will be able to effectively protect their own trade secrets. The purpose of this paper is to highlight the similarities and differences between both regulations to give useful guidelines to international companies who deal in both geographical areas. Therefore, the paper will focus first on the economic value of trade secrets and the costs related to cybercrime and cyberespionage. Then, it will analyze the US and EU historical legal backgrounds that brought to the adoption of both laws. Finally, this article will make a comparative analysis of the provisions in each law. Hence, the paper makes potential suggestions for companies that deal in both regimes.

  11. Geographic name "zagora" and its reference to areas in the Dalmatian hinterland in the selected newspaper medium

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Branimir Vukosav

    2011-01-01

    Full Text Available In the Croatian language, the word "zagora" or "zagorje" refers to an area "on the other side of a mountain or a hill". Throughout history, this term has been widely used to describe places physically detached from some other, economically or politically more prominent areas; and has thus been adopted as a geographic name (toponym for places which were "in contrast" to such areas and separated from them by an element of terrain. The term zagora is therefore a geographic name which denotes an area observed from an outside point of view, and which is later on accepted by the domicile population, becoming an endonym. In the context of the Croatian national territory, the most prominent usage of this toponym has been present in specific traditional regions in northern and southern Croatia; namely, Hrvatsko zagorje in northern Croatia, and a rather undefined area in the Dalmatian hinterland in southern Croatia. The extent and the degree of identification of the areas in southern Croatia bearing that particular geographic name have not been precisely defined, although there are many obvious indications of the existence of such a region in many contemporary sources. The aim of this paper is to research the perceptual character of an area in the Dalmatian hinterland in relation to geographic names Zagora and Dalmatinska zagora by means of content analysis. The final conclusions are drawn on the basis of informal geographic data retrieval from a chosen contemporary medium source (Slobodna Dalmacija newspaper. The observed extent of perception provides provisional maps which serve as approximations of collective cognitive maps and represents a starting point for a more extensive research on vernacular aspects of the Dalmatian hinterland.

  12. The Dynamics of Traded Industries In Between 2008-2014

    Science.gov (United States)

    Török, Ibolya; Török, Gergely

    2016-10-01

    During the last two decades a great number of studies have analyzed the industrial specialization and spatial concentration of specific industries, considering that the two phenomena closely interrelated: the geographic concentration of economic activities representing a territorial approach that describes the distribution of economic activities within a well-defined geographical area, while regional specialization expresses the weight of a certain sector in the regional economy. At the same time regional specialization is a good indicator of the competitive advantages a region possesses in producing different goods or services, making the best use of the local resources compared to other territories. The present study will analyze the importance and perspectives of traded- vs. local industries in the case of Romania during the 2008-2014 period.

  13. Trading away what kind of jobs? Globalization, trade and tasks in the US economy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kemeny, Thomas; Rigby, David

    2012-04-01

    Economists and other social scientists are calling for a reassessment of the impact of international trade on labor markets in developed and developing countries. Classical models of globalization and trade, based upon the international exchange of finished goods, fail to capture the fragmentation of much commodity production and the geographical separation of individual production tasks. This fragmentation, captured in the growing volume of intra-industry trade, prompts investigation of the effects of trade within, rather than between, sectors of the economy. In this paper we examine the relationship between international trade and the task structure of US employment. We link disaggregate US trade data from 1972 to 2006, the NBER manufacturing database, the Decennial Census, and occupational and task data from the Dictionary of Occupational Titles. Within-industry shifts in task characteristics are linked to import competition and technological change. Our results suggest that trade has played a major role in the growth in relative demand for nonroutine tasks, particularly those requiring high levels of interpersonal interaction.

  14. The Role of Psychic Distance in International Trade

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Håkanson, Lars

    2014-01-01

    Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the importance to international trade of impediments related to, first, geographic distance, such as freight and other costs related to the movement of physical goods, and second, “psychic distance”, such as the costs and difficulties of transferr......Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the importance to international trade of impediments related to, first, geographic distance, such as freight and other costs related to the movement of physical goods, and second, “psychic distance”, such as the costs and difficulties...... of transferring and interpreting the information necessary to effect international transactions. Design/methodology/approach – The paper highlights that psychic distance perceptions between countries are not symmetric and that both exporters’ and importers’ perceptions are important. The empirical analysis covers...... international trade in three categories of goods among 25 major trading nations for the period 1962-2008, employing structural equation modeling, incorporating the mutual interdependence of the distance measures. Findings – Exporters’ perceptions are more important for trade in differentiated products than...

  15. Variability of nutrients intake, lipid profile and cardiovascular mortality among geographical areas in Spain: The DRECE study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gómez de la Cámara, Agustín; De Andrés Esteban, Eva; Urrútia Cuchí, Gerard; Calderón Sandubete, Enrique; Rubio Herrera, Miguel Ángel; Menéndez Orenga, Miguel; Lora Pablos, David

    2017-11-07

    It has often been suggested that cardiovascular mortality and their geographical heterogeneity are associated with nutrients intake patterns and also lipid profile. The large Spanish study Dieta y Riesgo de Enfermedades Cardiovasculares en España (DRECE) investigated this theory from 1991 to 2010. Out of the 4,783 Spanish individuals making up the DRECE cohort, 220 subjects (148 men and 72 women) died (4.62%) during the course of the study. The mean age of patients who died from cardiovascular causes (32 in all) was 61.08 years 95% CI (57.47-64.69) and 70.91% of them were males. The consumption of nutrients and the lipid profile by geographical area, studied by geospatial models, showed that the east and southern area of the country had the highest fat intake coupled to a high rate of unhealthy lipid profile. It was concluded that the spatial geographical analysis showed a relationship between high fat intake, unhealthy lipid profile and cardiovascular mortality in the different geographical areas, with a high variability within the country.

  16. 78 FR 45181 - Foreign-Trade Zone 230-Piedmont Triad Area, North Carolina, Authorization of Production Activity...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2013-07-26

    ... DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE Foreign-Trade Zones Board [B-31-2013] Foreign-Trade Zone 230--Piedmont Triad Area, North Carolina, Authorization of Production Activity, Oracle Flexible Packaging, Inc., (Foil-Backed Paperboard), Winston-Salem, North Carolina On March 25, 2013, the Piedmont Triad Partnership...

  17. THE EFFECT OF PREFERENTIAL TRADE AREAS (PTAs IN THE PERSPECTIVE OF REGIONALISM: THE CASE OF ASEAN

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Abdurrahman Al-Faqiih

    2016-03-01

    Full Text Available The issue of regionalism particularly in the matter of preferential trade area is not an old fashion debate, but it becomes a prominent feature and a popular tool for global trading system. However, it does not mean that the regionalism might always bring benefit for any actor especially in terms of every national interest in the region. This paper would elaborate the effect of preferential trade area (PTAs establishment on the economic interest of ASEAN countries member. Through literature study, this paper concludes that the PTAs produce many positive benefits for the ASEAN countries member. The flexibility of partnerships and coverage selection under PTAs has helped ASEAN solve the crisis and increase efficiency as well as stimulate the main goal of global fair trade by expanding economic linkages. Thus, it could be said that PTAs enhance the multilateralism under the WTO system

  18. Epidemiology of hypertension in Yemen: effects of urbanization and geographical area

    Science.gov (United States)

    Modesti, Pietro Amedeo; Bamoshmoosh, Mohamed; Rapi, Stefano; Massetti, Luciano; Al-Hidabi, Dawood; Al Goshae, Husni

    2013-01-01

    Although globalization can contribute to increased blood pressure by spreading unhealthy behaviors, it also provides powerful means to tackle hypertension. The dissemination of information about and advice on cardiovascular prevention and facilitated contact with health services are valuable resources. To investigate the effects of urbanization, geographical area, and air temperature on hypertension burden and kidney damage, a survey was performed in 2008 with a door-to-door approach among urban and rural adult dwellers of three geographic areas (capital, inland, coast) of Yemen. Subjects (n=10 242) received two visits several days apart to confirm the diagnosis of hypertension. Proteinuria (dipstick test ⩾+1) was used as a marker of kidney damage. Prevalence rates were weighted to represent the Yemen population aged 15–69 years in 2008. Rates of hypertension and proteinuria progressively increased from the capital (6.4% 95% confidence level (CI) 5.8–7.0 and 5.1% 4.4–5.9, respectively), to inland areas (7.9% 7.0–8.7 and 6.1% 5.1–7.1), to the coastal area (10.1% 8.9–11.4 and 8.9% 7.3–10.4). When compared with urban dwellers, rural dwellers had similar hypertension prevalence (adjusted odds ratios (ORs) 1.03; 95% CI 0.91–1.17) but higher proteinuria rates (adjusted ORs 1.55; 1.31–1.85). Overall, home temperature was associated with a lower hypertension rate (adjusted OR 0.98; 0.96–0.99). This large population study reveals that the highest burden of hypertension and kidney damage is detectable in remote areas of the country. PMID:23486167

  19. Determination of the geographic origin of onions between three main production areas in Japan and other countries by mineral composition.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ariyama, Kaoru; Aoyama, Yoshinori; Mochizuki, Akashi; Homura, Yuji; Kadokura, Masashi; Yasui, Akemi

    2007-01-24

    Onions (Allium cepa L.) are produced in many countries and are one of the most popular vegetables in the world, thus leading to an enormous amount of international trade. It is currently important that a scientific technique be developed for determining geographic origin as a means to detect fraudulent labeling. We have therefore developed a technique based on mineral analysis and linear discriminant analysis (LDA). The onion samples used in this study were from Hokkaido, Hyogo, and Saga, which are the primary onion-growing areas in Japan, and those from countries that export onions to Japan (China, the United States, New Zealand, Thailand, Australia, and Chile). Of 309 samples, 108 were from Hokkaido, 52 were from Saga, 77 were from Hyogo, and 72 were from abroad. Fourteen elements (Na, Mg, P, Mn, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, Rb, Sr, Mo, Cd, Cs, and Ba) in the samples were determined by frame atomic adsorption spectrometry, inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry, and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. The models established by LDA were used to discriminate the geographic origin between Hokkaido and abroad, Hyogo and abroad, and Saga and abroad. Ten-fold cross-validations were conducted using these models. The discrimination accuracies obtained by cross-validation between Hokkaido and abroad were 100 and 86%, respectively. Those between Hyogo and abroad were 100 and 90%, respectively. Those between Saga and abroad were 98 and 90%, respectively. In addition, it was demonstrated that the fingerprint of an element pattern from a specific production area, which a crop receives, did not easily change by the variations of fertilization, crop year, variety, soil type, and production year if appropriate elements were chosen.

  20. The economic-geographical and environmental polarization as a factor of new functional relations between areas

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Milinčić Miroljub A.

    2004-01-01

    Full Text Available Geographical clustering, in the way of economic-geographical polarization represents regular and positive process of development of human society. These processes are characterized by stressed intensity, together with relatively short time dimension at the territory of Serbia. Extreme recent ecological polarization is the main consequence of this type of recomposition of economic-geographical elements in the territory of Serbia. At the one hand, anthropogenic or socio-economic areas (locations, axis and crossroads of development are formed, together with the numerous ecological problems as developing barriers, while at the other hand are territories of economic-geographical stagnation also with satisfying quality of basic natural resources and environmental condition. These differences generates and permanently increases their spatial, resource and ecological interdependence.

  1. Combining geographic information system, multicriteria evaluation techniques and fuzzy logic in siting MSW landfills

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gemitzi, Alexandra; Tsihrintzis, Vassilios A.; Voudrias, Evangelos; Petalas, Christos; Stravodimos, George

    2007-01-01

    This study presents a methodology for siting municipal solid waste landfills, coupling geographic information systems (GIS), fuzzy logic, and multicriteria evaluation techniques. Both exclusionary and non-exclusionary criteria are used. Factors, i.e., non-exclusionary criteria, are divided in two distinct groups which do not have the same level of trade off. The first group comprises factors related to the physical environment, which cannot be expressed in terms of monetary cost and, therefore, they do not easily trade off. The second group includes those factors related to human activities, i.e., socioeconomic factors, which can be expressed as financial cost, thus showing a high level of trade off. GIS are used for geographic data acquisition and processing. The analytical hierarchy process (AHP) is the multicriteria evaluation technique used, enhanced with fuzzy factor standardization. Besides assigning weights to factors through the AHP, control over the level of risk and trade off in the siting process is achieved through a second set of weights, i.e., order weights, applied to factors in each factor group, on a pixel-by-pixel basis, thus taking into account the local site characteristics. The method has been applied to Evros prefecture (NE Greece), an area of approximately 4,000 km2. The siting methodology results in two intermediate suitability maps, one related to environmental and the other to socioeconomic criteria. Combination of the two intermediate maps results in the final composite suitability map for landfill siting.

  2. Recent evolution of China's virtual water trade: analysis of selected crops and considerations for policy

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shi, J.; Liu, J.; Pinter, L.

    2014-04-01

    China has dramatically increased its virtual water import over recent years. Many studies have focused on the quantity of traded virtual water, but very few go into analysing geographic distribution and the properties of China's virtual water trade network. This paper provides a calculation and analysis of the crop-related virtual water trade network of China based on 27 major primary crops between 1986 and 2009. The results show that China is a net importer of virtual water from water-abundant areas of North America and South America, and a net virtual water exporter to water-stressed areas of Asia, Africa, and Europe. Virtual water import is far larger than virtual water export, and in both import and export a small number of trade partners control the supply chain. Grain crops are the major contributors to virtual water trade, and among grain crops, soybeans, mostly imported from the US, Brazil and Argentina, are the most significant. In order to mitigate water scarcity and secure the food supply, virtual water should actively be incorporated into national water management strategies. And the sources of virtual water import need to be further diversified to reduce supply chain risks and increase resilience.

  3. An approach to evaluating the economic impact of emissions trading

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lieu, S.; Johnson, S.L.; Dabirian, S.

    1993-01-01

    The command-and-control system to air quality controls is a mixture of technology-forcing standards for existing sources and offset for new sources. More stringent controls are required to achieve the ambient air quality standards in non-attainment urban areas which have been conformed with burgeoning economic growth. Due to the economy of scale and locale of polluting sources, some sources can implement these controls in a more cost-effective manner than others. In order to minimize the control costs of regulated sources, trading of emissions has been stipulated and has occurred among power plants to curb acid rain at the national level. Southern California is currently embarking on the trading of oxides of nitrogen, reactive organic compounds, and oxides of sulfur among existing and new stationary sources. New economic opportunities for entrepreneurs with advances control technology will arise under emissions trading. Trading will also result in the redistribution of emissions geographically and across industries. Through the linkage of a linear-programming trading model, a regional econometric model, and an urban airshed model, the impact of trading on the Southern California economy can thus be examined. This paper describes a framework which can be used to compare and contrast RECLAIM with the command-and-control system; and discusses a few issues which may arise in a trading market and how these issues can be dealt with are also examined

  4. Managing dynamic epidemiological risks through trade

    Science.gov (United States)

    Horan, Richard D.; Fenichel, Eli P.; Finnoff, David; Wolf, Christopher A.

    2015-01-01

    There is growing concern that trade, by connecting geographically isolated regions, unintentionally facilitates the spread of invasive pathogens and pests – forms of biological pollution that pose significant risks to ecosystem and human health. We use a bioeconomic framework to examine whether trade always increases private risks, focusing specifically on pathogen risks from live animal trade. When the pathogens have already established and traders bear some private risk, we find two results that run counter to the conventional wisdom on trade. First, uncertainty about the disease status of individual animals held in inventory may increase the incentives to trade relative to the disease-free case. Second, trade may facilitate reduced long-run disease prevalence among buyers. These results arise because disease risks are endogenous due to dynamic feedback processes involving valuable inventories, and markets facilitate the management of private risks that producers face with or without trade. PMID:25914431

  5. THE EU’S NEIGHBOURHOOD TRADE ARRANGEMENTS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ludmila BORTA

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available The elusive outcome of the Doha Round has increased the importance of the preferential trade agreements worldwide. Currently, the EU`s trade policy is driven by preferential negotiations. European bilateralism is important and extremely challenging. This union aims to conclude a significant number of deep and comprehensive free trade agreements, particularly by eliminating tariffs, and also by facilitating the trade of services, investments, procurement and regulatory matters. The EU has granted unilateral preferences to developing countries through tariff free access to the EU market, thereby helping them to eradicate poverty and promote sustainable development. Based on the primary motives of Europe’s preferential trade agreements, we have analysed the trade agreements negotiated with geographically close neighbours to which the EU is prepared to offer commercial accession or some slightly less ambitious type of relationship.

  6. Offline constraints in online drug marketplaces: An exploratory analysis of a cryptomarket trade network.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Norbutas, Lukas

    2018-06-01

    Cryptomarkets, or illegal anonymizing online platforms that facilitate drug trade, have been analyzed in a rapidly growing body of research. Previous research has found that, despite increased risks, cryptomarket sellers are often willing to ship illegal drugs internationally. There is little to no information, however, about the extent to which uncertainty and risk related to geographic constraints shapes buyers' behavior and, in turn, the structure of the global online drug trade network. In this paper, we analyze the structure of a complete cryptomarket trade network with a focus on the role of geographic clustering of buyers and sellers. We use publicly available crawls of the cryptomarket Abraxas, encompassing market transactions between 463 sellers and 3542 buyers of drugs in 2015. We use descriptive social network analysis and Exponential Random Graph Models (ERGM) to analyze the structure of the trade network. The structure of the online drug trade network is primarily shaped by geographical boundaries. Buyers are more likely to buy from multiple sellers within a single country, and avoid buying from sellers in different countries, which leads to strong geographic clustering. The effect is especially strong between continents and weaker for countries within Europe. A small fraction of buyers (10%) account for more than a half of all drug purchases, while most buyers only buy once. Online drug trade networks might still be heavily shaped by offline (geographic) constraints, despite their ability to provide access for end-users to large international supply. Cryptomarkets might be more "localized" and less international than thought before. We discuss potential explanations for such geographical clustering and implications of the findings. Copyright © 2018 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  7. The Effect of ASEAN-China Free Trade Area (ACFTA on Indonesia Export

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Indriyani Indriyani

    2016-10-01

    Full Text Available ASEAN-China Free Trade Area (ACFTA is an agreement between the members of ASEAN and China to create a free trade area by removing tariff and non-tariff barriers. This agreement begins with the signing of the agreement on November 5, 2002 in Phnom Penh. Implementation is done in phases beginning January 1, 2004. The purpose of this study determines the effect of the implementation of ACFTA on Indonesia's exports to the ASEAN countries and China. This study complements previous research regarding the ACFTA. The data used in this study are the data of Indonesian exports to ASEAN countries and China for 15 years from 2000 until 2014. The tests were conducted with a fixed effect panel data model with cross section SUR. The results of this study indicate that the ACFTA increase Indonesian exports to the ASEAN countries and China.DOI: 10.15408/etk.v15i2.3331

  8. Spatial organization and drivers of the virtual water trade: a community-structure analysis

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    D’Odorico, Paolo; Carr, Joel; Laio, Francesco; Ridolfi, Luca

    2012-01-01

    The trade of agricultural commodities can be associated with a virtual transfer of the local freshwater resources used for the production of these goods. Thus, trade of food products virtually transfers large amounts of water from areas of food production to far consumption regions, a process termed the ‘globalization of water’. We consider the (time-varying) community structure of the virtual water network for the years 1986–2008. The communities are groups of countries with dense internal connections, while the connections are sparser among different communities. Between 1986 and 2008, the ratio between virtual water flows within communities and the total global trade of virtual water has continuously increased, indicating the existence of well defined clusters of virtual water transfers. In some cases (e.g. Central and North America and Europe in recent years) the virtual water communities correspond to geographically coherent regions, suggesting the occurrence of an ongoing process of regionalization of water resources. However, most communities also include countries located on different ‘sides’ of the world. As such, geographic proximity only partly explains the community structure of virtual water trade. Similarly, the global distribution of people and wealth, whose effect on the virtual water trade is expressed through simple ‘gravity models’, is unable to explain the strength of virtual water communities observed in the past few decades. A gravity model based on the availability of and demand for virtual water in different countries has higher explanatory power, but the drivers of the virtual water fluxes are yet to be adequately identified. (letter)

  9. Long-term spatio-temporal changes in a West African bushmeat trade system.

    Science.gov (United States)

    McNamara, J; Kusimi, J M; Rowcliffe, J M; Cowlishaw, G; Brenyah, A; Milner-Gulland, E J

    2015-10-01

    Landscapes in many developing countries consist of a heterogeneous matrix of mixed agriculture and forest. Many of the generalist species in this matrix are increasingly traded in the bushmeat markets of West and Central Africa. However, to date there has been little quantification of how the spatial configuration of the landscape influences the urban bushmeat trade over time. As anthropogenic landscapes become the face of rural West Africa, understanding the dynamics of these systems has important implications for conservation and landscape management. The bushmeat production of an area is likely to be defined by landscape characteristics such as habitat disturbance, hunting pressure, level of protection, and distance to market. We explored (SSG, tense) the role of these four characteristics in the spatio-temporal dynamics of the commercial bushmeat trade around the city of Kumasi, Ghana, over 27 years (1978 to 2004). We used geographic information system methods to generate maps delineating the spatial characteristics of the landscapes. These data were combined with spatially explicit market data collected in the main fresh bushmeat market in Kumasi to explore the relationship between trade volume (measured in terms of number of carcasses) and landscape characteristics. Over time, rodents, specifically cane rats (Thryonomys swinderianus), became more abundant in the trade relative to ungulates and the catchment area of the bushmeat market expanded. Areas of intermediate disturbance supplied more bushmeat, but protected areas had no effect. Heavily hunted areas showed significant declines in bushmeat supply over time. Our results highlight the role that low intensity, heterogeneous agricultural landscapes can play in providing ecosystem services, such as bushmeat, and therefore the importance of incorporating bushmeat into ecosystem service mapping exercises. Our results also indicate that even where high bushmeat production is possible, current harvest levels may

  10. Trade Intelligence and Contemporary Exports Strategy

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    M. Tayfun Gülle

    2013-11-01

    Full Text Available The book mainly focuses on the divergences in the competitive environment resulting from the entrance of information and communications technologies into commercial life. Denoting that these divergences are rooted, above all, in the differences among countries in historical, social and geographic terms, the book claims that the increased use of trade information combined with these divergences will facilitate obtaining results in trade and that the synergy to emerge will pave the way for trade intelligence. The book also underlines that such trade intelligence, which is actually the natural commercial manner of Turkish entrepreneurs, could be accepted as the Turkish Style in international trade, with the rational management of the export process, and that this would ferment the national competition intelligence, as the strategy of contemporary exports.

  11. "To Control Tibet, First Pacify Kham": Trade Routes and "Official Routes" (Guandao in Easternmost Kham

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Patrick Booz

    2016-06-01

    Full Text Available This article focuses on the trade routes in the western Sichuan borderlands that facilitated contact and trade between Chinese counties and Eastern Tibet. In particular, the article offers a description of “official routes” (guandao—which the Chinese emperor twice proclaimed to be the vital mode of access between China and Tibet—from Chengdu, Sichuan’s provincial capital, to Khampa areas, with Lhasa as the final destination. The exchange of goods in this region followed various routes during different periods. From the tenth to sixteenth centuries, transactions occurred primarily along the borders of Amdo (Tib. A mdo, Northeastern Tibet, but for political, economic, and practical reasons, such exchanges became more limited geographically and eventually focused along the Sichuan–Kham/Ngawa border. Many routes shifted to the towns of Kangding (Tib. Dartsedo and Songpan (Tib. Zungchu, the main sites of distribution, where rich opportunities for trade and a strictly limiting transport geography made them important entrepôts that evolved into centers of prosperity. The geographic range of this article reaches to these two towns and leaves the investigation of the routes that led to western centers such as Derge, Batang, Chamdo, and Jyekundo for future research.

  12. 76 FR 32950 - Proposed Information Collection; Comment Request; 2012 Economic Census of Island Areas

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-06-07

    ... data at a geographic level equivalent to U.S. counties. Economic Census statistics for the island areas... System (NAICS)): Mining, Utilities, Construction, Manufacturing; Wholesale and Retail Trades... Support, Waste Management and Remediation Services; Educational Services; Health Care and Social...

  13. Markets and Networks in International Trade

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Håkanson, Lars; Dow, Douglas

    2012-01-01

    is associated with a shift in the composition of trade towards goods requiring more extensive information exchange and personal interaction between buyers and sellers. An alternative explanation—‘the market view’—contends that improved availability of information and increasing transparency of markets have...... facilitated the matching of geographically more proximate buyers and sellers, and that the observed decline in average transportation distances is a reflection of increasingly efficient markets. This paper examines empirically the merits of these two arguments based on a longitudinal analysis of bilateral...... in support of the ‘market-view’, showing that the sensitivity of trade to psychic distance has declined dramatically for all categories of goods. The impact of geographic distance has increased markedly for homogenous goods, whereas for more differentiated goods it has decreased mildly....

  14. A method for managing re-identification risk from small geographic areas in Canada

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Neisa Angelica

    2010-04-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background A common disclosure control practice for health datasets is to identify small geographic areas and either suppress records from these small areas or aggregate them into larger ones. A recent study provided a method for deciding when an area is too small based on the uniqueness criterion. The uniqueness criterion stipulates that an the area is no longer too small when the proportion of unique individuals on the relevant variables (the quasi-identifiers approaches zero. However, using a uniqueness value of zero is quite a stringent threshold, and is only suitable when the risks from data disclosure are quite high. Other uniqueness thresholds that have been proposed for health data are 5% and 20%. Methods We estimated uniqueness for urban Forward Sortation Areas (FSAs by using the 2001 long form Canadian census data representing 20% of the population. We then constructed two logistic regression models to predict when the uniqueness is greater than the 5% and 20% thresholds, and validated their predictive accuracy using 10-fold cross-validation. Predictor variables included the population size of the FSA and the maximum number of possible values on the quasi-identifiers (the number of equivalence classes. Results All model parameters were significant and the models had very high prediction accuracy, with specificity above 0.9, and sensitivity at 0.87 and 0.74 for the 5% and 20% threshold models respectively. The application of the models was illustrated with an analysis of the Ontario newborn registry and an emergency department dataset. At the higher thresholds considerably fewer records compared to the 0% threshold would be considered to be in small areas and therefore undergo disclosure control actions. We have also included concrete guidance for data custodians in deciding which one of the three uniqueness thresholds to use (0%, 5%, 20%, depending on the mitigating controls that the data recipients have in place, the

  15. Il commercio nell’area mediorientale: perché è così limitato? (Intra-Middle Eastern Trade: Why Is It so Low?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hossein Askari

    2003-06-01

    Full Text Available The Middle East has one of the highest ratios of exports to GDP in the world, yet intra-regional trade level is one of the lowest. Intra-Middle Eastern trade is examined in detail to assess the reasons for the low level of regional trade and to recommend policies for promoting trade within the area.

  16. Does Trade Help to Explain Tourism Demand? The Case of Portugal

    OpenAIRE

    Nuno Carlos LEITÃO

    2010-01-01

    The tourism industry has expanded in recent years due to internal and external environmental forces. These forces, income, trade, consumer price, and geographical distance are interconnected. Accounting for imperfect competition and increasing returns to scale, the new trade theory offers the explanation of dynamic gains from international trade. A large number of studies attempt to test the hypothesis that there is a link between trade and tourism. Most of the studies show that trade and tou...

  17. 75 FR 33239 - Rangeland Allotment Management Planning on the Fall River West and Oglala Geographic Areas, Fall...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-06-11

    ...The USDA, Forest Service, will prepare an environmental impact statement (EIS) analyzing the management of rangeland vegetation resources, which includes livestock grazing, on the National Forest System (NFS) lands within the Oglala Geographic Area (OGA) of the Oglala National Grassland on the Pine Ridge Ranger District and the West Geographic Area (WGA) of the Buffalo Gap National Grassland on the Fall River Ranger District of the Nebraska National Forest (Analysis Area) areas as mapped by the 2001 Nebraska National Forest Revised Land and Resource Management Plan (Forest Plan). A Notice of Intent (NOI) for this project was published February 22, 2008 (73 No. 36 FR 9760- 9762). More than six months have elapsed since the projected draft environmental impact statement (DEIS) date in that original NOI. This revised NOI is being issued to update the project schedule. There will be a record of decision (ROD) for each geographic area. Proposed management actions would be implemented beginning in the year 2012. The agency gives notice of the full environmental analysis and decision-making process that will occur on the proposal so interested and affected people may become aware of how they may participate in the process and contribute to the final decision.

  18. Geographical indications, food safety, and sustainability: conflicts and synergies

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    David A. Wirth

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available This paper examines the legal and policy relationships amongst international standards for GIs, food safety requirements, and voluntary claims related to a food’s attributes. The paper addresses those relationships within the context of international trade agreements protecting GIs, such as the 1994 TRIPS Agreement, the EU-Canada Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA, and the chapter on intellectual property and geographical indications in the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP currently under negotiation. Trade agreements also discipline food safety measures and non-GI indications of quality or safety such as “organic” and “GMO-free.” Accordingly, the paper also considers the extent to which international trade agreements such as the WTO Agreements on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Standards (SPS Agreement and Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT might interact with the analysis.

  19. Free trade area of the Americas a three level analysis

    OpenAIRE

    Williams, Clay G.

    2006-01-01

    The Free Trade Area of the Americas is a proposed treaty that would encompass the Western Hemisphere-800 million people and a 13 trillion dollar economy. It is a regional agreement that cannot be understood without the interrelated issues at both the international and domestic level. The single most important issue that resides at the nexus of all three of these levels is domestic subsidies on agriculture. FTAA cannot move forward at the regional level without reduction in the U.S. domest...

  20. Delay-area trade-off for MPRM circuits based on hybrid discrete particle swarm optimization

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jiang Zhidi; Wang Zhenhai; Wang Pengjun

    2013-01-01

    Polarity optimization for mixed polarity Reed—Muller (MPRM) circuits is a combinatorial issue. Based on the study on discrete particle swarm optimization (DPSO) and mixed polarity, the corresponding relation between particle and mixed polarity is established, and the delay-area trade-off of large-scale MPRM circuits is proposed. Firstly, mutation operation and elitist strategy in genetic algorithm are incorporated into DPSO to further develop a hybrid DPSO (HDPSO). Then the best polarity for delay and area trade-off is searched for large-scale MPRM circuits by combining the HDPSO and a delay estimation model. Finally, the proposed algorithm is testified by MCNC Benchmarks. Experimental results show that HDPSO achieves a better convergence than DPSO in terms of search capability for large-scale MPRM circuits. (semiconductor integrated circuits)

  1. Chronic and acute exposures to the world trade center disaster and lower respiratory symptoms: area residents and workers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Maslow, Carey B; Friedman, Stephen M; Pillai, Parul S; Reibman, Joan; Berger, Kenneth I; Goldring, Roberta; Stellman, Steven D; Farfel, Mark

    2012-06-01

    We assessed associations between new-onset (post-September 11, 2001 [9/11]) lower respiratory symptoms reported on 2 surveys, administered 3 years apart, and acute and chronic 9/11-related exposures among New York City World Trade Center-area residents and workers enrolled in the World Trade Center Health Registry. World Trade Center-area residents and workers were categorized as case participants or control participants on the basis of lower respiratory symptoms reported in surveys administered 2 to 3 and 5 to 6 years after 9/11. We created composite exposure scales after principal components analyses of detailed exposure histories obtained during face-to-face interviews. We used multivariate logistic regression models to determine associations between lower respiratory symptoms and composite exposure scales. Both acute and chronic exposures to the events of 9/11 were independently associated, often in a dose-dependent manner, with lower respiratory symptoms among individuals who lived and worked in the area of the World Trade Center. Study findings argue for detailed assessments of exposure during and after events in the future from which potentially toxic materials may be released and for rapid interventions to minimize exposures and screen for potential adverse health effects.

  2. Increased efficiency in the second-hand tire trade provides opportunity for dengue control.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pliego Pliego, Emilene; Velázquez-Castro, Jorge; Eichhorn, Markus P; Fraguela Collar, Andrés

    2018-01-21

    Dengue fever is increasing in geographical range, spread by invasion of its vector mosquitoes. The trade in second-hand tires has been implicated as a factor in this process because they act as mobile reservoirs of mosquito eggs and larvae. Regional transportation of tires can create linkages between rural areas with dengue and disease-free urban areas, potentially giving rise to outbreaks even in areas with strong local control measures. In this work we sought to model the dynamics of mosquito transportation via the tire trade, in particular to predict its role in causing unexpected dengue outbreaks through vertical transmission of the virus across generations of mosquitoes. We also aimed to identify strategies for regulating the trade in second-hand tires, improving disease control. We created a mathematical model which captures the dynamics of dengue between rural and urban areas, taking into account the movement and storage time of tires, and mosquito diapause. We simulate a series of scenarios in which a mosquito population is introduced to a dengue-free area via movement of tires, either as single or multiple events, increasing the likelihood of a dengue outbreak. A persistent disease state can be induced regardless of whether urban conditions for an outbreak are met, and an existing endemic state can be enhanced by vector input. Finally we assess the potential for regulation of tire processing as a means of reducing the transmission of dengue fever using a specific case study from Puerto Rico. Our work demonstrates the importance of the second-hand tire trade in modulating the spread of dengue fever across regions, in particular its role in introducing dengue to disease-free areas. We propose that reduction of tire storage time and control of their movement can play a crucial role in containing dengue outbreaks. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  3. Prediction of Pig Trade Movements in Different European Production Systems Using Exponential Random Graph Models.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Relun, Anne; Grosbois, Vladimir; Alexandrov, Tsviatko; Sánchez-Vizcaíno, Jose M; Waret-Szkuta, Agnes; Molia, Sophie; Etter, Eric Marcel Charles; Martínez-López, Beatriz

    2017-01-01

    In most European countries, data regarding movements of live animals are routinely collected and can greatly aid predictive epidemic modeling. However, the use of complete movements' dataset to conduct policy-relevant predictions has been so far limited by the massive amount of data that have to be processed (e.g., in intensive commercial systems) or the restricted availability of timely and updated records on animal movements (e.g., in areas where small-scale or extensive production is predominant). The aim of this study was to use exponential random graph models (ERGMs) to reproduce, understand, and predict pig trade networks in different European production systems. Three trade networks were built by aggregating movements of pig batches among premises (farms and trade operators) over 2011 in Bulgaria, Extremadura (Spain), and Côtes-d'Armor (France), where small-scale, extensive, and intensive pig production are predominant, respectively. Three ERGMs were fitted to each network with various demographic and geographic attributes of the nodes as well as six internal network configurations. Several statistical and graphical diagnostic methods were applied to assess the goodness of fit of the models. For all systems, both exogenous (attribute-based) and endogenous (network-based) processes appeared to govern the structure of pig trade network, and neither alone were capable of capturing all aspects of the network structure. Geographic mixing patterns strongly structured pig trade organization in the small-scale production system, whereas belonging to the same company or keeping pigs in the same housing system appeared to be key drivers of pig trade, in intensive and extensive production systems, respectively. Heterogeneous mixing between types of production also explained a part of network structure, whichever production system considered. Limited information is thus needed to capture most of the global structure of pig trade networks. Such findings will be useful

  4. India’s Participation In The Regional Trade Agreements

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    V. I. Baronov

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available The main objective of the proposed study is to identify the specifics of India’s participation in the regional trade agreements (RTAs, a comparative analysis of the main provisions of the RTAs and the impact of membership in the integration agreements on the country’s foreign trade relations. In the world economic literature there is no unity of opinions on the economic effect of the participation of states in RTAs. The author’s thesis is that the final effect of membership in the RTAs depends on the amount of customs duties on the date of signing the agreement (the higher they are, the greater the effect of trade creation, and also on the place of the partner country in the trade of another participating state (the greater is mutual turnover, the greater effect of trade creation. Of course, other factors affect, such as geographical proximity, transportation and other transaction costs. India’s participation in the regional trade agreements (RTA was one of the tasks of implementing the policy “Look East”, which was approved in 1991. The countries of Southeast Asia have been identified as a regional priority, which was caused by the geo-strategic and economic reasons. Later, regional coverage has been extended to the countries of Northeast and South Asia because of increasing the role of China in the world economy and politics, which has become a strategic challenge and economic opportunities for the Indian economy. India is a participant of 13 RTAs, the majority of which are bilateral. In India’s integration practice, one of four types of RTAs is applied: (1 agreement on comprehensive economic partnership, which differ in the widest scope of mutual economic relations; (2 agreement on comprehensive economic cooperation; (3 free trade agreement; (4 preferential trade agreement. Most often, there is used classical integration model (of preferential or free trade area.Initially, the Indian policy of RTA dominated the political factor

  5. Environmental studies of the World Trade Center area after the September 11, 2001 attack

    Science.gov (United States)

    Clark, Roger N.; Green, Robert O.; Swayze, Gregg A.; Meeker, Greg; Sutley, Steve; Hoefen, Todd M.; Livo, K. Eric; Plumlee, Geoff; Pavri, Betina; Sarture, Chuck; Wilson, Steve; Hageman, Phil; Lamothe, Paul; Vance, J. Sam; Boardman, Joe; Brownfield, Isabelle; Gent, Carol; Morath, Laurie C.; Taggart, Joseph; Theodorakos, Peter M.; Adams, Monique

    2001-01-01

    This web site describes the results of an interdisciplinary environmental characterization of the World Trade Center (WTC) area after September 11, 2001.Information presented in this site was first made available to the World Trade Center emergency response teams on September 18, 2001 (Thermal hot spot information), and September 27, 2001 (maps and compositional results).The Airborne Visible / Infrared Imaging Spectrometer (AVIRIS), a hyperspectral remote sensing instrument, was flown by JPL/NASA over the World Trade Center (WTC) area on September 16, 18, 22, and 23, 2001 ( Link to the AVIRIS JPL data facility). A 2-person USGS crew collected samples of dusts and airfall debris from more than 35 localities within a 1-km radius of the World trade Center site on the evenings of September 17 and 18, 2001. Two samples were collected of indoor locations that were presumably not affected by rainfall (there was a rainstorm on September 14). Two samples of material coating a steel beam in the WTC debris were also collected. The USGS ground crew also carried out on-the-ground reflectance spectroscopy measurements during daylight hours to field calibrate AVIRIS remote sensing data. Radiance calibration and rectification of the AVIRIS data were done at JPL/NASA. Surface reflectance calibration, spectral mapping, and interpretation were done at the USGS Imaging Spectroscopy Lab in Denver. The dust/debris and beam-insulation samples were analyzed for a variety of mineralogical and chemical parameters using Reflectance Spectroscopy (RS), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), chemical analysis, and chemical leach test techniques in U.S. Geological Survey laboratories in Denver, Colorado.

  6. EnerGis: A geographical information based system for the evaluation of integrated energy conversion systems in urban areas

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Girardin, Luc; Marechal, Francois; Dubuis, Matthias; Calame-Darbellay, Nicole; Favrat, Daniel

    2010-01-01

    A geographical information system has been developed to model the energy requirements of an urban area. The purpose of the platform is to model with sufficient detail the energy services requirements of a given geographical area in order to allow the evaluation of the integration of advanced integrated energy conversion systems. This tool is used to study the emergence of more efficient cities that realize energy efficiency measures, integrate energy efficient conversion technologies and promote the use of endogenous renewable energy. The model is illustrated with case studies for the energetic planning of the Geneva district (Switzerland).

  7. Pembentukan Perdagangan Bebas Asean-China (Asean-China Free Trade Area) Dan Dampaknya Bagi Petani Di Indonesia

    OpenAIRE

    Indriastuti, Suyani

    2005-01-01

    Recently, free trade is a global phenomenon where the regions effort to make an exclusive free trade area. The Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) and China signed a comprehensive economic partnership agreement on the teenth of ASEAN summit. The parties agreed to strenghthen their coorperation in many sectors which the one of that was agriculture sector. So Indonesian as ASEAN member has enthusiasm to apply this agreement. It has many impacts for Indonesian farmer.

  8. Free Trade Area of the Americas: The Scope of the Negotiations

    OpenAIRE

    Herminio Blanco M.; Jaime Zabludovsky

    2003-01-01

    The purpose of this work is to analyze the negotiation agenda of the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA), its participants¿ main interests and the main conflicts that might arise in the process. Hence, a revision of the core interests pursued by countries in each of the nine FTAA negotiating groups is made. Interests are classified into "defensive" and "offensive". The first, are those pursued by the status quo, generally associated with the protection of the domestic market, and the latte...

  9. PERLINDUNGAN HUKUM USAHA MIKRO KECIL MENENGAH (UMKM DARI DAMPAK ADANYA PERJANJIAN ASEAN-CHINA FREE TRADE AREA (ACFTA

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ari Ratna Kurniastuti

    2014-08-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Journal writing is about the legal protection of micro small and medium enterprises (SMEs from the impact of the Agreement of the ASEAN-China Free Trade Area (ACFTA. It is motivated by the ACFTA agreement that went into effect on January 1, 2010 many local industries including the SMEs gain a tremendous impact, ranging from reduced turnover, to anyone out of business. Seeing as it is a phenomenon that needs to be assessed on the first position of the ACFTA agreement in the Indonesian legal system relating to the case of a legal conflict with national legislation that protects SMEs. The second study is about the ideal form of legal protection for SMEs from the impact of the ACFTA agreement. Key words: legal protection, the micro, small and medium enterprises (smes, treaty of asean china free trade area (ACFTA   Abstrak Penulisan jurnal ini membahas tentang perlindungan hukum usaha mikro kecil menengah (UMKM dari dampak adanya Perjanjian ASEAN-China Free Trade Area (ACFTA. Hal ini dilatarbelakangi dengan adanya perjanjian ACFTA yang mulai berlaku pada 1 Januari 2010 banyak industri lokal yang termasuk di dalamnya adalah UMKM mendapatkan dampak yang luar biasa, mulai dari penurunan omset, sampai ada yang gulung tikar. Melihat fenomena yang demikian maka perlu dikaji mengenai yang pertama kedudukan Perjanjian ACFTA dalam sistem hukum Indonesia berkaitan dengan apabila terjadi konflik hukum dengan peraturan perundang-undangan nasional yang melindungi UMKM. Kajian kedua adalah tentang bentuk perlindungan hukum yang ideal terhadap UMKM dari dampak adanya  perjanjian ACFTA. Kata kunci: perlindungan hukum, usaha mikro kecil menengah (umkm, perjanjian asean-china free trade area (ACFTA

  10. Climate Prediction Center (CPC)Area-averaged 850-hPa Western Pacific Trade Wind Anomalies

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — This is one of the CPC?s Monthly Atmospheric and SST Indices. It is the 850-hPa trade wind anomalies averaged over the area 5oN ? 5oS, 135oE-180o (western equatorial...

  11. Climate Prediction Center (CPC)Area-averaged 850-hPa Eastern Pacific Trade Wind Anomalies

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — This is one of the CPC?s Monthly Atmospheric and SST Indices. It is the 850-hPa trade wind anomalies averaged over the area 5oN ? 5oS, 135oW-120oW (eastern...

  12. Climate Prediction Center (CPC)Area-averaged 850-hPa Central Pacific Trade Wind Anomalies

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — This is one of the CPC?s Monthly Atmospheric and SST Indices. It is the 850-hPa trade wind anomalies averaged over the area 5oN ? 5oS, 175oW-140oW (central...

  13. Evaluating the ecotourism potentials of Naharkhoran area in Gorgan using remote sensing and geographic information system

    Science.gov (United States)

    Oladi, Jafar; Bozorgnia, Delavar

    2010-10-01

    Ecotourism may be defined as voluntary travels to intact natural areas in order to enjoy the natural attractions as well as to get familiar with the culture of local communities. The main factor contributing to inappropriate land uses and natural resource destruction is overaggregation of ecotourists in some specific natural areas such as forests and rangelands; while other parts remain unvisited due to the lack of a proper propagation about those areas. Evaluating the ecotourism potentials of each area would lead to a wider participation of local people in natural resource conservation activities. In order to properly introduce the ecotourism potential areas, at first, we carried out land preparation practices using Geographic Information System (GIS) and Remote Sensing (RS) techniques; then, the maps of height, slope and orientation were produced using the digital elevation model (DEM) of the study area. Afterwards, we overlaid these maps and the ecotourism potential areas were identified on the map. These specified areas were classified into two land uses of mass and alternative ecotourism, with three subclasses (including class1, class2 and an inappropriate class) considered for each land use. To classify the image, the training areas determined on the ground using a GPS device (Ground Positioning System) were transferred on the RS image. Subsequently, the ecotourism potential areas were determined using a hybrid method. At the final phase, these areas were compared with the areas determined on the ecotourism potential map; as a result of this comparison, the overlaid ecotourism potential areas were distinguished on the Geographic information System.

  14. Geographic patterns of vertebrate diversity and identification of relevant areas for conservation in Europe

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Assunção–Albuquerque, M. J. T.

    2012-06-01

    Full Text Available The ‘EU Council conclusions on biodiversity post–2010′ re–enforced Europe’s commitment to halt biodiversity loss by 2020. Identifying areas of high–value for biodiversity conservation is an important issue to meet this target. We investigated the geographic pattern of terrestrial vertebrate diversity status in Europe by assessing the species richness, rarity, vulnerability (according to IUCN criteria, and a combined index of the three former for the amphibians, reptiles, bird and mammals of this region. We also correlated the value of all indices with climate and human influence variables. Overall, clear geographic gradients of species diversity were found. The combined biodiversity index indicated that high–value biodiversity areas were mostly located in the Mediterranean basin and the highest vulnerability was found in the Iberian peninsula for most taxa. Across all indexes, the proportion of variance explained by climate and human influence factors was moderate to low. The results obtained in this study have the potential to provide valuable support for nature conservation policies in Europe and, consequently, might contribute to mitigate biodiversity decline in this region.

  15. Redirecting International Trade

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kokko, Ari; Söderlund, Bengt; Tingvall, Patrik Gustavsson

    2014-01-01

    The global financial crisis has contributed to the redirection of trade towards new markets outside the OECD area, where both demand patterns and the institutional environment differ from those in the OECD. This study provides an empirical examination of the consequences of this shift, based......-specific investments are particularly difficult to redirect towards markets with weak institutions....... on Swedish firm-level trade data. Results suggest that weak institutions hamper trade and reduce the length of trade relations, especially for small firms. Trade in industries that are characterized by a high frequency of trade conflicts and where transactions require extensive relationship...

  16. Redirecting International Trade

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kokko, Ari; Söderlund, Bengt; Tingvall, Patrik Gustavsson

    The global financial crisis has accelerated the redirection of trade towards new markets, outside the OECD area, where both demand patterns and the institutional environment differ from those in the OECD. This study provides an empirical examination of the consequences of this shift. Results...... difficult to redirect towards markets with weak institutions....... suggest that weak institutions hamper trade and reduces the length of trade relations, especially for small firms. Furthermore, trade in industries that are characterized by a high degree of trade conflicts and that requires extensive relationship specific investments for trade to occur are comparatively...

  17. Cultural similarity and international trade in a panel of nations

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    E-G Hwang

    2014-07-01

    Full Text Available Using a gravity model and the data of a panel of eight nations, we present evidence that supports the views that geographical influence on trade had increased from 1985 to 1997. In both years, linguistic influence on trade is found to exist in export but not in import. The estimated results show a positive relation between religious similarity and international trade for the year 1985 but not for the year 1997. However, there is an indication that, for 1997, the religious dissimilarity tends to discourage international trade with low-income countries and regions and to encourage international trade with high-income countries. We also find that, for low-income trade partners, religious dissimilarity retards imports more than exports; by contrast, for high-income trade partners, it encourages exports more than imports.

  18. a Geographic Analysis of Optimal Signage Location Selection in Scenic Area

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ruan, Ling; Long, Ying; Zhang, Ling; Wu, Xiao Ling

    2016-06-01

    As an important part of the scenic area infrastructure services, signage guiding system plays an indispensable role in guiding the way and improving the quality of tourism experience. This paper proposes an optimal method in signage location selection and direction content design in a scenic area based on geographic analysis. The object of the research is to provide a best solution to arrange limited guiding boards in a tourism area to show ways arriving at any scenic spot from any entrance. There are four steps to achieve the research object. First, the spatial distribution of the junction of the scenic road, the passageway and the scenic spots is analyzed. Then, the count of scenic roads intersection on the shortest path between all entrances and all scenic spots is calculated. Next, combing with the grade of the scenic road and scenic spots, the importance of each road intersection is estimated quantitatively. Finally, according to the importance of all road intersections, the most suitable layout locations of signage guiding boards can be provided. In addition, the method is applied in the Ming Tomb scenic area in China and the result is compared with the existing signage guiding space layout.

  19. FRESH FISH TRADE NETWORKS IN THE STREET MARKETS OF PALMAS, TOCANTINS STATE, BRAZIL

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kelly Bessa

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available This paper focuses on fresh fish trade networks found in the street markets of Palmas, capital of Tocantins state, Brazil, so as to identify the economic agents involved and the various geographical spaces which interact as a result of these networks. Fresh fish trade in Palmas takes place in distributor warehouses, grocery stores, supermarkets and hypermarkets, fish shops, and fishing communities, but it is street markets that constitute the most popular sale venues. Market sellers establish upstream supply networks with sectors in the fish food system (suppliers in primary and secondary production, distribution, and retail, whose interactions generate connections in Palmas (fishermen, distributors, retailers on a local scale, as well as connections with locations in Tocantins and Pará states (fishermen, fisheries, cold storage companies on a regional scale. Sellers also establish downstream trade networks with the end consumer at markets and with establishments in the food and small retail sectors, whose interactions produce mostly local connections, in Palmas and in the Luzimangues district (close to Palmas. Such connections are marked by consumption processes in these urban areas. Key-words: network, fresh fish trade, street markets.

  20. Recent evolution of China's virtual water trade: analysis of selected crops and considerations for policy

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shi, J.; Liu, J.; Pinter, L.

    2013-09-01

    China has dramatically increased its virtual water import unconsciously for recent years. Many studies have focused on the quantity of traded virtual water but very few go into analysing geographic distribution and the properties of China's virtual water trade network. This paper provides a calculation and analysis of the crop-related virtual water trade network of China based on 27 major primary crops between 1986 and 2009. The results show that China is a net importer of virtual water from water-abundant areas of North and South America, and a net virtual water exporter to water-stressed areas of Asia, Africa, and Europe. Virtual water import is far larger than virtual water export and in both import and export a small number of trade partners control the supply chain. Grain crops are the major contributors to virtual water trade, and among grain crops soybeans, mostly imported from the US, Brazil and Argentina are the most significant. As crop yield and crop water productivity in North and South America are generally higher than those in Asia and Africa, the effect of China's crop-related virtual water trade positively contributes to optimizing crop water use efficiency at the global scale. In order to mitigate water scarcity and secure the food supply, virtual water should be actively incorporated into national water management strategies. From the national perspective, China should reduce the export and increase the import of water-intensive crops. But the sources of virtual water import need to be further diversified to reduce supply chain risks and increase resilience.

  1. REGIONALIZATION AND INTRA-INDUSTRY TRADE. AN ANALYSIS OF AUTOMOBILE INDUSTRY TRADE IN NAFTA

    OpenAIRE

    Sylvie MONTOUT; Jean-Louis MUCCHIELLI; Soledad ZIGNAGO

    2002-01-01

    As was shown in some previous studies, the creation of the North American Free Trade American (NAFTA) has significantly increased trade and investment flows between member countries. Consequently, it seems appropriate to analyze the incidences of the free trade agreement on the nature of trade. In this paper, we study the intra-industry trade in the automobile industry within the NAFTA area. Our results highlight an increase in intra-industry trade since the beginning of the 1990s. The import...

  2. Geographic factors as determinants of food security: a Western Australian food pricing and quality study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pollard, Christina Mary; Landrigan, Timothy John; Ellies, Pernilla Laila; Kerr, Deborah Anne; Lester, Matthew Langdon Underwood; Goodchild, Stanley Edward

    2014-01-01

    Food affordability and quality can influence food choice. This research explores the impact of geographic factors on food pricing and quality in Western Australia (WA). A Healthy Food Access Basket (HFAB) was cost and a visual and descriptive quality assessment of 13 commonly consumed fresh produce items was conducted in-store on a representative sample of 144 food grocery stores. The WA retail environment in 2010 had 447 grocery stores servicing 2.9 million people: 38% of stores the two major chains (Coles® Supermarkets Australia and Woolworths ® Limited) in population dense areas, 50% were smaller independently owned stores (Independent Grocers Association®) in regional areas as well, and 12% Indigenous community stores in very remote areas. The HFAB cost 24% (pfoods cost more and the quality of fresh produce was lower. Food affordability and quality may deter healthier food choice in geographically isolated communities. Improving affordability and quality of nutritious foods in remote communities may positively impact food choices, improve food security and prevent diet-sensitive chronic disease. Policy makers should consider influencing agriculture, trade, commerce, transport, freight, and modifying local food economies.

  3. Identifying the community structure of the food-trade international multi-network

    Science.gov (United States)

    Torreggiani, S.; Mangioni, G.; Puma, M. J.; Fagiolo, G.

    2018-05-01

    Achieving international food security requires improved understanding of how international trade networks connect countries around the world through the import-export flows of food commodities. The properties of international food trade networks are still poorly documented, especially from a multi-network perspective. In particular, nothing is known about the multi-network’s community structure. Here we find that the individual crop-specific layers of the multi-network have densely connected trading groups, a consistent characteristic over the period 2001–2011. Further, the multi-network is characterized by low variability over this period but with substantial heterogeneity across layers in each year. In particular, the layers are mostly assortative: more-intensively connected countries tend to import from and export to countries that are themselves more connected. We also fit econometric models to identify social, economic and geographic factors explaining the probability that any two countries are co-present in the same community. Our estimates indicate that the probability of country pairs belonging to the same food trade community depends more on geopolitical and economic factors—such as geographical proximity and trade-agreement co-membership—than on country economic size and/or income. These community-structure findings of the multi-network are especially valuable for efforts to understand past and emerging dynamics in the global food system, especially those that examine potential ‘shocks’ to global food trade.

  4. A GEOGRAPHIC ANALYSIS OF OPTIMAL SIGNAGE LOCATION SELECTION IN SCENIC AREA

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    L. Ruan

    2016-06-01

    Full Text Available As an important part of the scenic area infrastructure services, signage guiding system plays an indispensable role in guiding the way and improving the quality of tourism experience. This paper proposes an optimal method in signage location selection and direction content design in a scenic area based on geographic analysis. The object of the research is to provide a best solution to arrange limited guiding boards in a tourism area to show ways arriving at any scenic spot from any entrance. There are four steps to achieve the research object. First, the spatial distribution of the junction of the scenic road, the passageway and the scenic spots is analyzed. Then, the count of scenic roads intersection on the shortest path between all entrances and all scenic spots is calculated. Next, combing with the grade of the scenic road and scenic spots, the importance of each road intersection is estimated quantitatively. Finally, according to the importance of all road intersections, the most suitable layout locations of signage guiding boards can be provided. In addition, the method is applied in the Ming Tomb scenic area in China and the result is compared with the existing signage guiding space layout.

  5. Assessment the Impact of Asean Free Trade Area (AFTA on Exports of Indonesian Agricultural Commodity

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Heri Akhmadi

    2017-07-01

    Full Text Available This paper focuses on investigation whether Indonesian membership on ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA increased export of agriculture commodity. The panel augmented gravity model data from 33 major partner countries over the period of 2000-2014 has been applied to analyze the factors affected Indonesian agricultural exports. The overall finding showed that Indonesian agricultural exports were positively correlated with the size of economy and partner countries population, while they are negatively correlated with the appreciation of currency exchange rate and the enrollment on free trade agreement. Moreover, the Indonesian membership on AFTA does not gave significant impact and profitable on Indonesian agricultural exports.

  6. Geographic profiling to assess the risk of rare plant poaching in natural areas

    Science.gov (United States)

    Young, J.A.; Van Manen, F.T.; Thatcher, C.A.

    2011-01-01

    We demonstrate the use of an expert-assisted spatial model to examine geographic factors influencing the poaching risk of a rare plant (American ginseng, Panax quinquefolius L.) in Shenandoah National Park, Virginia, USA. Following principles of the analytic hierarchy process (AHP), we identified a hierarchy of 11 geographic factors deemed important to poaching risk and requested law enforcement personnel of the National Park Service to rank those factors in a series of pair-wise comparisons. We used those comparisons to determine statistical weightings of each factor and combined them into a spatial model predicting poaching risk. We tested the model using 69 locations of previous poaching incidents recorded by law enforcement personnel. These locations occurred more frequently in areas predicted by the model to have a higher risk of poaching than random locations. The results of our study can be used to evaluate resource protection strategies and to target law enforcement activities. ?? Springer Science+Business Media, LLC (outside the USA) 2011.

  7. Impact of geographic area level on measuring socioeconomic disparities in cancer survival in New South Wales, Australia: A period analysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stanbury, Julia F; Baade, Peter D; Yu, Yan; Yu, Xue Qin

    2016-08-01

    Area-based socioeconomic measures are widely used in health research. In theory, the larger the area used the more individual misclassification is introduced, thus biasing the association between such area level measures and health outcomes. In this study, we examined the socioeconomic disparities in cancer survival using two geographic area-based measures to see if the size of the area matters. We used population-based cancer registry data for patients diagnosed with one of 10 major cancers in New South Wales (NSW), Australia during 2004-2008. Patients were assigned index measures of socioeconomic status (SES) based on two area-level units, census Collection District (CD) and Local Government Area (LGA) of their address at diagnosis. Five-year relative survival was estimated using the period approach for patients alive during 2004-2008, for each socioeconomic quintile at each area-level for each cancer. Poisson-regression modelling was used to adjust for socioeconomic quintile, sex, age-group at diagnosis and disease stage at diagnosis. The relative excess risk of death (RER) by socioeconomic quintile derived from this modelling was compared between area-units. We found extensive disagreement in SES classification between CD and LGA levels across all socioeconomic quintiles, particularly for more disadvantaged groups. In general, more disadvantaged patients had significantly lower survival than the least disadvantaged group for both CD and LGA classifications. The socioeconomic survival disparities detected by CD classification were larger than those detected by LGA. Adjusted RER estimates by SES were similar for most cancers when measured at both area levels. We found that classifying patient SES by the widely used Australian geographic unit LGA results in underestimation of survival disparities for several cancers compared to when SES is classified at the geographically smaller CD level. Despite this, our RER of death estimates derived from these survival

  8. Global Electricity Trade Network: Structures and Implications

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ji, Ling; Jia, Xiaoping; Chiu, Anthony S. F.; Xu, Ming

    2016-01-01

    Nations increasingly trade electricity, and understanding the structure of the global power grid can help identify nations that are critical for its reliability. This study examines the global grid as a network with nations as nodes and international electricity trade as links. We analyze the structure of the global electricity trade network and find that the network consists of four sub-networks, and provide a detailed analysis of the largest network, Eurasia. Russia, China, Ukraine, and Azerbaijan have high betweenness measures in the Eurasian sub-network, indicating the degrees of centrality of the positions they hold. The analysis reveals that the Eurasian sub-network consists of seven communities based on the network structure. We find that the communities do not fully align with geographical proximity, and that the present international electricity trade in the Eurasian sub-network causes an approximately 11 million additional tons of CO2 emissions. PMID:27504825

  9. The Moderating Effect of Geographic Area on the Relationship Between Age, Gender, and Information and Communication Technology Literacy and Problematic Internet Use.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yu, Liang; Recker, Mimi; Chen, Shijian; Zhao, Nan; Yang, Qiuyan

    2018-06-01

    This study investigated the relationship between adolescents' problematic Internet use (PIU) and demographic characteristics such as age, gender, and information and communication technology (ICT) literacy and the moderating effect of geographic area on this relationship using a cross-sectional research design. The study sample comprised 2160 adolescents from the Chongqing area of China and consisted of 47.3 percent boys (N = 1022) and 52.7 percent girls (N = 1138). Participants anonymously completed a 38-item questionnaire that examined their Internet use, behaviors, and attitudes, ICT literacy, parents' education level, and other demographic information. The results showed that the geographic area in which respondents lived (urban vs. rural), gender, age, father's education, mother's education, and ICT literacy had significant relationships with PIU. Moreover, hierarchical multiple regression analyses indicated that geographic area was found to be a significant moderator for both age and gender in their relationship with PIU. These findings suggest that it is essential to address differences between urban and rural areas when seeking to mitigate PIU among adolescents.

  10. Evolution of international trade and investment networks

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Shuhong; Wang, Lin; Liu, Zhixin; Wang, Xiaofan

    2016-11-01

    In this paper, an evolving two-layer international economy network (IEN) consisting of international trade network (ITN) and international investment network (IIN) as layers, is constructed to investigate the world economy from 2001 to 2010. First, the structure analysis shows that the average partner numbers for both trade and investment are increasing year by year, and the average volume has a significant decrease in 2008 for investment and 2009 for trade. The IIN has longer average path length and dramatically lower edge density compared with the ITN, yet its clustering coefficient is larger in all years. Then, the regional relativity indicates that the longer the distance between two countries, the smaller trade and investment volumes they carry in are general, and the impact of the geographical distance gradually reduces as time goes on. Furthermore, the countries and regions are ranked by Pagerank in ITN, IIN and IEN to illustrate the roles they played. And finally, community structures are detected to visualize the global economic landscape, with countries and regions in the same community ranked according to the total volume of trade or investment.

  11. Is Intra-Industry Trade Specialization a Precondition to Business Cycle Synchronization When Joining the Euro Area? The Case of Poland

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kawecka-Wyrzykowska Elżbieta

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available The first objective of this paper is to present theoretical approaches to the impact of trade growth (induced by monetary integration on business cycle synchronization which is an important factor of a country’s readiness for a currency union accession. The main conclusion from the first part of the analysis is that business cycle convergence and the cost of the lack of an autonomous monetary policy depend on intra-industry trade (IIT intensity rather than on general trade growth. The second objective is to assess - using the IIT index as a measure of business cycle synchronization (and of susceptibility to asymmetric shocks transmitted mostly through trade channels - preparedness of the Polish economy to the euro adoption. Calculations reveal that the IIT intensity in Poland is already relatively high (in particular in relations with the euro area members and continues to rise. This confirms the increasing complementarity of Poland’s economy with the economic structures of the euro area partners which reduces the probability of asymmetric shocks.

  12. Accessible Transportation, Geographic Elevation, and Masticatory Ability Among Elderly Residents of a Rural Area.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hamano, Tsuyoshi; Tominaga, Kazumichi; Takeda, Miwako; Sundquist, Kristina; Nabika, Toru

    2015-06-26

    Given that public transportation networks are often worse in rural areas than in urban areas, rural residents who do not drive can find it difficult to access health-promoting goods, services, and resources related to masticatory ability. Moreover, geographical location, assessed by elevation, could modify this association. The aim of this study was to test whether the association between access to transportation and masticatory ability varied by elevation. Data were collected from a cross-sectional study conducted in Mizuho and Iwami counties, Japan. Objective masticatory ability was evaluated using a test gummy jelly and elevation was estimated by the geographic information systems according to the participant's address. After excluding subjects with missing data, 672 subjects (Mizuho = 401 and Iwami = 271) were analyzed. After adjustment for potential confounders, being a driver was not significantly associated with masticatory ability among elderly people living at low elevation (≤313 m) in Mizuho county. However, after the same adjustment, being a driver remained significantly associated with increased masticatory ability among elderly at high elevations. Similar findings were observed in Iwami county. Accessible transportation was significantly associated with increased mastication ability in elderly people living at high elevations, but not in those living at low elevations.

  13. Accessible Transportation, Geographic Elevation, and Masticatory Ability Among Elderly Residents of a Rural Area

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tsuyoshi Hamano

    2015-06-01

    Full Text Available Given that public transportation networks are often worse in rural areas than in urban areas, rural residents who do not drive can find it difficult to access health-promoting goods, services, and resources related to masticatory ability. Moreover, geographical location, assessed by elevation, could modify this association. The aim of this study was to test whether the association between access to transportation and masticatory ability varied by elevation. Data were collected from a cross-sectional study conducted in Mizuho and Iwami counties, Japan. Objective masticatory ability was evaluated using a test gummy jelly and elevation was estimated by the geographic information systems according to the participant’s address. After excluding subjects with missing data, 672 subjects (Mizuho = 401 and Iwami = 271 were analyzed. After adjustment for potential confounders, being a driver was not significantly associated with masticatory ability among elderly people living at low elevation (≤313 m in Mizuho county. However, after the same adjustment, being a driver remained significantly associated with increased masticatory ability among elderly at high elevations. Similar findings were observed in Iwami county. Accessible transportation was significantly associated with increased mastication ability in elderly people living at high elevations, but not in those living at low elevations.

  14. Capital Mobility, Corporate Protection, and Trade Policy

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Egerod, Benjamin Carl Krag; Justesen, Mogens Kamp

    Capital mobility and corporate lobbying are often emphasized as key drivers of international trade policy. Most empirical research on the topic, however, has focused on the industry level or some level of geographical aggregation. We address this gap by examining the role of firm-level capital...... it with financial data on the firms filing them – a total of roughly 1,000 companies from 25 WTO countries in the period 2005-2015. Using spatial autoregressive (SAR) models, we show that companies with less mobile assets are, on average, more likely to be successful when petitioning for trade protection...

  15. Effects of intraday trade on NorNed

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    2011-06-15

    In this report we study the effects of introducing intraday trade on the NorNed cable between Norway and the Netherlands, effectively increasing the geographical scope of the existing intraday markets in both countries, by analysing the effects on the incentives of existing and potential new market participants. The analysis of the effects on incentives is mainly based on a fundamental analysis of resource prices in the two countries, using the day-ahead supply curves in both countries. It also includes an analysis of the dynamics of trade, interdependencies between the different market time frames (day-ahead, intraday and balancing stage) and price behaviour. In addition we describe the day-ahead, intraday and balancing markets of the two countries and identify factors in the market designs which may affect the incentives for intraday trade. (Author)

  16. Does human migration affect international trade? A complex-network perspective.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fagiolo, Giorgio; Mastrorillo, Marina

    2014-01-01

    This paper explores the relationships between international human migration and merchandise trade, using a complex-network approach. We firstly compare the topological structure of worldwide networks of human migration and bilateral trade over the period 1960-2000. Next, we ask whether the position of any pair of countries in the migration network affects their bilateral trade flows. We show that: (i) both weighted and binary versions of the networks of international migration and trade are strongly correlated; (ii) such correlations can be mostly explained by country economic/demographic size and geographical distance; and (iii) pairs of countries that are more central in the international-migration network trade more. Our findings suggest that bilateral trade between any two countries is not only affected by the presence of migrants from either countries but also by their relative embeddedness in the complex web of corridors making up the network of international human migration.

  17. Trade Facilitation Indicators and their Potential Impact on Trade Between the Countries of South-Eastern Europe

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Toševska-Trpčevska Katerina

    2016-11-01

    Full Text Available In this paper we base our analysis on previous OECD findings and analysis of trade facilitation indicators for assessing relative economic and trade impact of specific trade facilitation measures for the countries of South-Eastern Europe. In the analysis we plan to include all CEFTA-2006 members, except Moldova, and other countries which are part of this region: Bulgaria, Romania and Greece. We plan to construct twelve trade facilitation indicators (TFIs that correspond to the main policy areas under negotiations at the WTO. The indicators are composed from seventy-eight variables, whose values are drawn from publicly available data. We plan to use these indicators in gravity model in order to estimate the impact of those policy areas on trade volumes between the countries of the region. The use of individual trade facilitation indicators should also enable countries to better assess which trade facilitation measures deserve priority.

  18. Real-time Geographic Information System (GIS) for Monitoring the Area of Potential Water Level Using Rule Based System

    Science.gov (United States)

    Anugrah, Wirdah; Suryono; Suseno, Jatmiko Endro

    2018-02-01

    Management of water resources based on Geographic Information System can provide substantial benefits to water availability settings. Monitoring the potential water level is needed in the development sector, agriculture, energy and others. In this research is developed water resource information system using real-time Geographic Information System concept for monitoring the potential water level of web based area by applying rule based system method. GIS consists of hardware, software, and database. Based on the web-based GIS architecture, this study uses a set of computer that are connected to the network, run on the Apache web server and PHP programming language using MySQL database. The Ultrasound Wireless Sensor System is used as a water level data input. It also includes time and geographic location information. This GIS maps the five sensor locations. GIS is processed through a rule based system to determine the level of potential water level of the area. Water level monitoring information result can be displayed on thematic maps by overlaying more than one layer, and also generating information in the form of tables from the database, as well as graphs are based on the timing of events and the water level values.

  19. HIV pretreatment drug resistance trends in three geographic areas of Mexico.

    Science.gov (United States)

    García-Morales, Claudia; Tapia-Trejo, Daniela; Quiroz-Morales, Verónica S; Navarro-Álvarez, Samuel; Barrera-Arellano, Carlos A; Casillas-Rodríguez, Jesús; Romero-Mora, Karla A; Gómez-Palacio-Schjetnan, María; Murakami-Ogasawara, Akio; Ávila-Ríos, Santiago; Reyes-Terán, Gustavo

    2017-11-01

    Pretreatment drug resistance (PDR) levels to NNRTI approaching 10% have recently been reported in Mexico. However, subnational differences may exist in PDR prevalence and transmission dynamics. We longitudinally assessed HIV PDR in three geographic areas of Mexico. HIV-infected, antiretroviral-naive individuals were recruited from 2008 to 2016, from the Central Metropolitan Zone (CMZ), Cancun and Tijuana (1194, 773 and 668 respectively). PDR was estimated using the Stanford HIVdb tool from plasma HIV pol sequences. A higher proportion of females, lower education and lower employment rate were observed in Tijuana, while a higher proportion of MSM was observed in the CMZ (P Mexico. Even when increasing trends in efavirenz resistance were observed in the three areas, our observations support that, in a large country such as Mexico, subnational surveillance and locally tailored interventions to address drug resistance may be a reasonable option. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the British Society for Antimicrobial Chemotherapy. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

  20. 77 FR 66583 - Solicitation of Nominations for Membership on the Civil Nuclear Trade Advisory Committee

    Science.gov (United States)

    2012-11-06

    ... the Department as chair of the Civil Nuclear Trade Working Group (CINTWG) of the Trade Promotion...' size and geographic location, and shall be drawn from U.S. civil nuclear manufacturing and services... following: a. Civil nuclear manufacturing and services companies; b. Small businesses; c. Utilities; d...

  1. Geographical differences in food allergy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bartra, Joan; García-Moral, Alba; Enrique, Ernesto

    2016-06-01

    Food allergy represents a health problem worldwide and leads to life-threatening reactions and even impairs quality of life. Epidemiological data during the past decades is very heterogeneous because of the use of different diagnostic procedures, and most studies have only been performed in specific geographical areas. The aim of this article is to review the available data on the geographical distribution of food allergies at the food source and molecular level and to link food allergy patterns to the aeroallergen influence in each area. Systematic reviews, meta-analysis, studies performed within the EuroPrevall Project and EAACI position papers regarding food allergy were analysed. The prevalence of food allergy sensitization differs between geographical areas, probably as a consequence of differences among populations, their habits and the influence of the cross-reactivity of aeroallergens and other sources of allergens. Geographical differences in food allergy are clearly evident at the allergenic molecular level, which seems to be directly influenced by the aeroallergens of each region and associated with specific clinical patterns.

  2. Spatial structure, inequality and trading community of renewable energy networks: A comparative study of solar and hydro energy product trades

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Fu, Xin; Yang, Yu; Dong, Wen; Wang, Changjian; Liu, Yi

    2017-01-01

    Renewable energy trade is booming and has formed complicated networks worldwide. However, our knowledge of the spatial structures and evolution of these networks is limited. In this paper, network analyses are used to examine the geographic characteristics of selected renewable energy trades and their evolution based on the United Nations COMTRADE Database from 1988 to 2013. The results show that the networks are expanding to include more and more countries and relationships, and scale of the networks is larger than ever. A tripartite confrontational renewable energy trading system has been forming and is strengthening. Europe, the USA, China and other Asian countries are the main players, and China has overtaken the USA and Europe as the leading player. Inequality and ‘small-world’ characteristics appear in renewable energy trade. Solar energy trade presents a triadic community structure with Europe, the USA and China as the dominant players, while hydro energy trade presents a smaller and more dispersed structure. The core–periphery structure strongly suggests a trade dependency between hubs and peripheral elements in renewable energy trade. Developing countries should design appropriate incentives and contribute to particular segments in renewable energy value chain to accelerate and benefit from the South–South renewable energy trade. - Highlights: • Renewable energy trade networks are identified and analyzed. • Tripartite confrontational renewable energy trade systems have been formed and are strengthening. • Unequal and ‘small world’ characteristics have appeared in the renewable energy trade. • China has overtaken the USA and Europe as the leading player in the renewable energy trade. • Developing countries should make efforts to benefit from the South–South energy trade.

  3. Potential distribution of the endangered endemic lizard Liolaemus lutzae Mertens, 1938 (Liolaemidae: are there other suitable areas for a geographically restricted species?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    GR. Winck

    Full Text Available In this study we attempted to access further information on the geographical distribution of the endangered lizard Liolaemus lutzae, estimating its potential distribution through the maximum entropy algorithm. For this purpose, we related its points of occurrence with matrices of environmental variables. After examining the correlation between environmental matrices, we selected 10 for model construction. The main variables influencing the current geographic distribution of L. lutzae were the diurnal temperature range and altitude. The species endemism seemed to be a consequence of a reduction of the original distribution area. Alternatively, the resulting model may reflect the geographic distribution of an ancestral lineage, since the model selected areas of occurrence of the two other species of Liolaemus from Brazil (L. arambarensis and L. occipitalis, all living in sand dune habitats and having psamophilic habits. Due to the high loss rate of habitat occupied by the species, the conservation and recovery of the remaining areas affected by human actions is essential.

  4. Does human migration affect international trade? A complex-network perspective.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Giorgio Fagiolo

    Full Text Available This paper explores the relationships between international human migration and merchandise trade, using a complex-network approach. We firstly compare the topological structure of worldwide networks of human migration and bilateral trade over the period 1960-2000. Next, we ask whether the position of any pair of countries in the migration network affects their bilateral trade flows. We show that: (i both weighted and binary versions of the networks of international migration and trade are strongly correlated; (ii such correlations can be mostly explained by country economic/demographic size and geographical distance; and (iii pairs of countries that are more central in the international-migration network trade more. Our findings suggest that bilateral trade between any two countries is not only affected by the presence of migrants from either countries but also by their relative embeddedness in the complex web of corridors making up the network of international human migration.

  5. THE TPP AND TTIP TRADE AGREEMENTS: THE INTERNATIONAL NEGOTIATION PROCESS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ioana GUTU

    2016-03-01

    Full Text Available Free trade is one of the ultimate purposes of the free trade agreements currently negotiated over the world. Two of these trials are represented by the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP and the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP. The common feature of these two trade deals is represented by the United States, a global actor that is making sure that it will be able to trade in best conditions on both of its geographical shores: on the Pacific and on The Atlantic. The negotiations are still ongoing, but results are expected on both sides. An important issue for the third parties, but not only, is represented by the secrecy of the negotiations undertaken and the lack of transparency shown by the negotiating Governments. If the agreements are concluded, a major global impact on trade and investments is expected, with significant positive implications for the TPP and TTIP negotiating states.

  6. The relationship between genus richness and geographic area in Late Cretaceous marine biotas: epicontinental sea versus open-ocean-facing settings.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Anne J Lagomarcino

    Full Text Available For present-day biotas, close relationships have been documented between the number of species in a given region and the area of the region. To date, however, there have been only limited studies of these relationships in the geologic record, particularly for ancient marine biotas. The recent development of large-scale marine paleontological databases, in conjunction with enhanced geographical mapping tools, now allow for their investigation. At the same time, there has been renewed interest in comparing the environmental and paleobiological properties of two broad-scale marine settings: epicontinental seas, broad expanses of shallow water covering continental areas, and open-ocean-facing settings, shallow shelves and coastlines that rim ocean basins. Recent studies indicate that spatial distributions of taxa and the kinetics of taxon origination and extinction may have differed in these two settings. Against this backdrop, we analyze regional Genus-Area Relationships (GARs of Late Cretaceous marine invertebrates in epicontinental sea and open-ocean settings using data from the Paleobiology Database. We present a new method for assessing GARs that is particularly appropriate for fossil data when the geographic distribution of these data is patchy and uneven. Results demonstrate clear relationships between genus richness and area for regions worldwide, but indicate that as area increases, genus richness increases more per unit area in epicontinental seas than in open-ocean settings. This difference implies a greater degree of compositional heterogeneity as a function of geographic area in epicontinental sea settings, a finding that is consistent with the emerging understanding of physical differences in the nature of water masses between the two marine settings.

  7. Electric trade in the United States, 1996

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    NONE

    1998-12-01

    Wholesale trade in electricity plays an important role for the US electric utility industry. Wholesale, or bulk power, transactions allow electric utilities to reduce power costs, increase power supply options, and improve reliability. In 1996, the wholesale trade market totaled 2.3 trillion kilowatthours, over 73% of total sales to ultimate consumers. This publication, Electric Trade in the United States 1996 (ELECTRA), is the sixth in a series of reports on wholesale power transactions prepared by the Office of Coal, Nuclear, Electric and Alternate Fuels, Energy Information Administration (EIA). The electric trade data are published biennially. The first report presented 1986 data, and this report provides information on the electric power industry during 1996. The electric trade data collected and presented in this report furnish important information on the wholesale structure found within the US electric power industry. The patterns of interutility trade in the report support analyses of wholesale power transactions and provide input for a broader understanding of bulk power market issues that define the emerging national electric energy policies. The report includes information on the quantity of power purchased, sold, exchanged, and wheeled; the geographical locations of transactions and ownership classes involved; and the revenues and costs. 1 fig., 43 tabs.

  8. Trade-Induced Atmospheric Mercury Deposition over China and Implications for Demand-Side Controls.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Long; Meng, Jing; Liang, Sai; Zhang, Haoran; Zhang, Wei; Liu, Maodian; Tong, Yindong; Wang, Huanhuan; Wang, Wei; Wang, Xuejun; Shu, Jiong

    2018-02-20

    Mercury (Hg) is of global concern because of its adverse effects on humans and the environment. In addition to long-range atmospheric transport, Hg emissions can be geographically relocated through economic trade. Here, we investigate the effect of China's interregional trade on atmospheric Hg deposition over China, using an atmospheric transport model and multiregional input-output analysis. In general, total atmospheric Hg deposition over China is 408.8 Mg yr -1 , and 32% of this is embodied in China's interregional trade, with the hotspots occurring over Gansu, Henan, Hebei, and Yunnan provinces. Interprovincial trade considerably redistributes atmospheric Hg deposition over China, with a range in deposition flux from -104% to +28%. Developed regions, such as the Yangtze River Delta (Shanghai, Jiangsu, and Zhejiang) and Guangdong, avoid Hg deposition over their geographical boundaries, instead causing additional Hg deposition over developing provinces. Bilateral interaction among provinces is strong over some regions, suggesting a need for joint mitigation, such as the Jing-Jin-Ji region (Beijing, Tianjin, and Hebei) and the Yangtze River Delta. Transferring advanced technology from developed regions to their developing trade partners would be an effective measure to mitigate China's Hg pollution. Our findings are relevant to interprovincial efforts to reduce trans-boundary Hg pollution in China.

  9. Obsidian trade routes in the mayan area.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hammond, N

    1972-12-08

    Obsidian from two sources in highland Guatemala has been found at 23 sites of the Classic Mayan civilization, mainly in the nonvolcanic lowlands to the north. The distribution, together with trade routes suggested by topography and documentary sources, suggests efficient waterborne transport and competition between sources for the lowland market.

  10. The Geometric Phase of Stock Trading.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Altafini, Claudio

    2016-01-01

    Geometric phases describe how in a continuous-time dynamical system the displacement of a variable (called phase variable) can be related to other variables (shape variables) undergoing a cyclic motion, according to an area rule. The aim of this paper is to show that geometric phases can exist also for discrete-time systems, and even when the cycles in shape space have zero area. A context in which this principle can be applied is stock trading. A zero-area cycle in shape space represents the type of trading operations normally carried out by high-frequency traders (entering and exiting a position on a fast time-scale), while the phase variable represents the cash balance of a trader. Under the assumption that trading impacts stock prices, even zero-area cyclic trading operations can induce geometric phases, i.e., profits or losses, without affecting the stock quote.

  11. Variability in chemical composition of Vitis vinifera cv Mencía from different geographic areas and vintages in Ribeira Sacra (NW Spain).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vilanova, M; Rodríguez, I; Canosa, P; Otero, I; Gamero, E; Moreno, D; Talaverano, I; Valdés, E

    2015-02-15

    A chemical study was conducted from 2009 to 2012 to examine spatial and seasonal variability of red Vitis vinifera Mencía located in different geographic areas (Amandi, Chantada, Quiroga-Bibei, Ribeiras do Sil and Ribeiras do Miño) from NW Spain. Mencía samples were analysed for phenolic, (flavan-3-ols, flavonols, anthocyanins, acids and resveratrol), nitrogen (TAC, TAN, YAN and TAS) and volatiles compounds (alcohols, C6 compounds, ethyl esters, terpenes, aldehydes, acids, lactones, volatile phenols and carbonyl compounds) by GC-MS and HPLC. Results showed that the composition of Mencía cultivar was more affected by the vintage than the geographic area. The amino acid composition was less affected by both geographic origin and vintage, showing more varietal stability. Application of Principal Component Analysis (PCA) to experimental data showed a good separation of Mencía grape according to geographical origin and vintages. PCA also showed high correlations between the ripening ratio and C6 compounds, resveratrol and carbonyl compounds. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  12. Performance and Cost Trade-off in Tracking Area Reconfiguration: A Pareto-optimization Approach

    OpenAIRE

    Modarres Razavi, Sara; Yuan, Di; Gunnarsson, Fredrik; Moe, Johan

    2012-01-01

    Tracking Area (TA) design is one of the key tasks in location management of Long Term Evolution (LTE) networks. TA enables to trace and page User Equipments (UEs). As UEs distribution and mobility patterns change over time, TA design may have to undergo revisions. For revising the TA design, the cells to be reconfigured typically have to be temporary torn down. Consequently, this will result in service interruption and “cost”. There is always a trade-off between the performance in terms of th...

  13. A comparison of complementary and alternative medicine users and use across geographical areas: A national survey of 1,427 women

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-01-01

    Background Evidence indicates that people who reside in non-urban areas have a higher use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) than people who reside in urban areas. However, there is sparse research on the reasons for such differences. This paper investigates the reasons for geographical differences in CAM use by comparing CAM users from four geographical areas (major cities, inner regional, outer region, rural/remote) across a range of health status, healthcare satisfaction, neighbourhood and community factors. Methods A cross-sectional survey of 1,427 participants from the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health (ALSWH) conducted in 2009. Results The average total cost of consultations with CAM practitioners was $416 per annum and was highest for women in the major cities, declining with increasing distance from capital cities/remoteness (p < 0.001). The average total cost of self-prescribed CAM was $349 per annum, but this did not significantly differ across geographical areas. The increased use of CAM in rural and remote areas appears to be influenced by poorer access to conventional medical care (p < 0.05) and a greater sense of community (p < 0.05) amongst these rural and remote residents. In contrast to the findings of previous research this study found that health status was not associated with the differences in CAM use between urban and non-urban areas. Conclusion It appears that a number of factors influence the different levels of CAM use across the urban/non-urban divide. Further research is needed to help tease out and understand these factors. Such research will help support health care policy and practice with regards to this topic. PMID:21981986

  14. Accessibility of tertiary hospitals in Finland: A comparison of administrative and normative catchment areas.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Huotari, Tiina; Antikainen, Harri; Keistinen, Timo; Rusanen, Jarmo

    2017-06-01

    The determination of an appropriate catchment area for a hospital providing highly specialized (i.e. tertiary) health care is typically a trade-off between ensuring adequate client volumes and maintaining reasonable accessibility for all potential clients. This may pose considerable challenges, especially in sparsely inhabited regions. In Finland, tertiary health care is concentrated in five university hospitals, which provide services in their dedicated catchment areas. This study utilizes Geographic Information Systems (GIS), together with grid-based population data and travel-time estimates, to assess the spatial accessibility of these hospitals. The current geographical configuration of the hospitals is compared to a normative assignment, with and without capacity constraints. The aim is to define optimal catchment areas for tertiary hospitals so that their spatial accessibility is as equal as possible. The results indicate that relatively modest improvements can be achieved in accessibility by using normative assignment to determine catchment areas. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  15. Determinants of Dentists' Geographic Distribution.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Beazoglou, Tryfon J.; And Others

    1992-01-01

    A model for explaining the geographic distribution of dentists' practice locations is presented and applied to particular market areas in Connecticut. Results show geographic distribution is significantly related to a few key variables, including demography, disposable income, and housing prices. Implications for helping students make practice…

  16. To trade or not to trade: Link prediction in the virtual water network

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tuninetti, Marta; Tamea, Stefania; Laio, Francesco; Ridolfi, Luca

    2017-12-01

    In the international trade network, links express the (temporary) presence of a commercial exchange of goods between any two countries. Given the dynamical behaviour of the trade network, where links are created and dismissed every year, predicting the link activation/deactivation is an open research question. Through the international trade network of agricultural goods, water resources are 'virtually' transferred from the country of production to the country of consumption. We propose a novel methodology for link prediction applied to the network of virtual water trade. Starting from the assumption of having links between any two countries, we estimate the associated virtual water flows by means of a gravity-law model using country and link characteristics as drivers. We consider the links with estimated flows higher than 1000 m3/year as active links, while the others as non-active links. Flows traded along estimated active links are then re-estimated using a similar but differently-calibrated gravity-law model. We were able to correctly model 84% of the existing links and 93% of the non-existing links in year 2011. It is worth to note that the predicted active links carry 99% of the global virtual water flow; hence, missed links are mainly those where a minimum volume of virtual water is exchanged. Results indicate that, over the period from 1986 to 2011, population, geographical distances between countries, and agricultural efficiency (through fertilizers use) are the major factors driving the link activation and deactivation. As opposed to other (network-based) models for link prediction, the proposed method is able to reconstruct the network architecture without any prior knowledge of the network topology, using only the nodes and links attributes; it thus represents a general method that can be applied to other networks such as food or value trade networks.

  17. The Cultural Trade Index : An Introduction

    OpenAIRE

    Kabanda, Patrick

    2016-01-01

    The Cultural Trade Index aims to shed light on cultural trade and stimulate interest in how this little-known area can contribute to economic diversification, boost shared prosperity, and reduce extreme poverty. As the first index of its kind, the Cultural Trade Index would gather cultural trade data scattered across different sources, place them in one place, and show how countries are pe...

  18. Trade Liberalization between Russia and East Asian Countries

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dmitriy Aleksandrovich Izotov

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available Based on the international statistics data the author estimates effects of trade liberalization between Russia and East Asian countries. The prospective niche markets in mutual trade and the impact of trade liberalization on the national economies were identified. Using a partial equilibrium model the author indicates the following positive trade effects for Russia and East Asia: trade creation effect prevails over trade diversion effect; general welfare and mutual trade of the countries tend to increase. The Russian economy has positive trade effects with all the East Asian countries, with the highest scale in the case of Sino-Russian trade. At the same time trade liberalization has following some costs for the Russian economy: a the growing role of imports, mostly from China, compared to Russian exports; b reduction of tariff revenues, which are four times higher for Russia, compared to East Asian countries; c continued negative trade balance with the East Asian countries. The evaluation shows that the increase of Russian exports to East Asian countries is feasible only for certain commodity groups which determine marketable niches of specific East Asian countries; at the same time, Russia can import from East Asia a huge range of commodity groups. The study reveals that reduction in tariff measures and non- tariff restrictions will not lead to a massive increase in Russian exports and changing in its trade and geographical structure. On the basis of prolongation of short-term trends the author identifies long-term challenges and opportunities for the Russian economy from trade liberalization with East Asian countries. According to the estimation results, the author suggests that in the current environment of global trade liberalization the tariff measures become less significant as a tool for redistribution of commodity flows

  19. Trade of Solid Biofuels, and Fuel Prices in Europe

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Alakangas, E.; Hillring, B.; Nikolaisen, L.S.

    2002-01-01

    Traditionally, biomass fuels are used in the same geographical region, in which they are produced. In more recent years, this pattern has been changed in Northern Europe by large-scale use of biomass for district heating and a vast supply of recycled wood and forest residues. The trade situation has come about as a result of means of control on waste and energy. Sea shipments allow bulk transports of biomass over long distances at low cost. In most countries, the customs statistics do not record trade in such a detail that the international trade of different biomass types could be identified. Today, solid biofuels like wood residues, pellets and wood chips are already traded in Europe and have reached a level of almost 50 PJ/a. In some countries, there is a growing interest in the international biomass trade, because the trade can provide biofuels at lower prices. The largest volumes of biomass are traded from the Baltic countries (Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania) to the Nordic countries (especially Sweden and Denmark, but also Finland). Some volumes are also traded from Finland to other Nordic countries, and between neighbouring countries in Central Europe, especially the Netherlands, Germany, Austria, Slovenia and Italy. The traded biofuel is most often of refined wood fuels (pellets and briquettes) and industrial by-products (sawdust, chips), in Central Europe also wood waste

  20. Trade of Solid Biofuels, and Fuel Prices in Europe

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Alakangas, E. [VTT Processes, Jyvaeskylae (Finland); Hillring, B. [Swedish Univ. of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala (Sweden); Nikolaisen, L.S. [Danish Technological Inst. (DTI), Aarhus (Denmark). Centre for Biomass Technology

    2002-07-01

    Traditionally, biomass fuels are used in the same geographical region, in which they are produced. In more recent years, this pattern has been changed in Northern Europe by large-scale use of biomass for district heating and a vast supply of recycled wood and forest residues. The trade situation has come about as a result of means of control on waste and energy. Sea shipments allow bulk transports of biomass over long distances at low cost. In most countries, the customs statistics do not record trade in such a detail that the international trade of different biomass types could be identified. Today, solid biofuels like wood residues, pellets and wood chips are already traded in Europe and have reached a level of almost 50 PJ/a. In some countries, there is a growing interest in the international biomass trade, because the trade can provide biofuels at lower prices. The largest volumes of biomass are traded from the Baltic countries (Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania) to the Nordic countries (especially Sweden and Denmark, but also Finland). Some volumes are also traded from Finland to other Nordic countries, and between neighbouring countries in Central Europe, especially the Netherlands, Germany, Austria, Slovenia and Italy. The traded biofuel is most often of refined wood fuels (pellets and briquettes) and industrial by-products (sawdust, chips), in Central Europe also wood waste.

  1. Opportunities and barriers for international bioenergy trade

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Junginger, Martin; Dam, Jinke van; Zarrilli, Simonetta; Ali Mohamed, Fatin; Marchal, Didier; Faaij, Andre

    2011-01-01

    Recently, the international trade of various bioenergy commodities has grown rapidly, yet this growth is also hampered by some barriers. The aim of this paper is to obtain an overview of what market actors currently perceive as major opportunities and barriers for the development of international bioenergy trade. The work focuses on three bioenergy commodities: bioethanol, biodiesel and wood pellets. Data were collected through an internet-based questionnaire. The majority of the 141 respondents had an industrial background. Geographically, two-thirds were from (mainly Western) Europe, with other minor contributions from all other continents. Results show that import tariffs and the implementation of sustainability certification systems are perceived as (potentially) major barriers for the trade of bioethanol and biodiesel, while logistics are seen mainly as an obstacle for wood pellets. Development of technical standards was deemed more as an opportunity than a barrier for all commodities. Most important drivers were high fossil fuel prices and climate change mitigation policies. Concluding, to overcome some of the barriers, specific actions will be required by market parties and policy makers. Import tariffs for biofuels could be reduced or abolished, linked to multinational trade agreements and harmonization (including provisions on technical standards and sustainability requirements). - Research highlights: → We analyze main barriers for global trade of wood pellets, ethanol and biodiesel. → Import tariffs can be a major barrier for liquid biofuels trade. → Implementation of sustainability certification systems may hamper biofuels trade. → Logistics are seen mainly as an obstacle for the trade of wood pellets. → Development of technical standards are deemed an opportunity for bioenergy trade.

  2. Using geographic distribution of well-screen depths and hydrogeologic conditions to identify areas of concern for contaminant migration through inactive supply wells

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gailey, Robert M.

    2018-02-01

    Contaminant migration through inactive supply wells can negatively affect groundwater quality and the combined effects from groups of such wells may cause greater impacts. Because the number of wells in many basins is often large and the geographic areas involved can be vast, approaches are needed to estimate potential impacts and focus limited resources for investigation and corrective measures on the most important areas. One possibility is to evaluate the geographic distribution of well-screen depths relative to hydrogeologic conditions and assess where contaminant migration through wells may be impacting groundwater quality. This approach is demonstrated for a geographically extensive area in the southern Central Valley of California, USA. The conditions that lead to wells acting as conduits for contaminant migration are evaluated and areas where the problem likely occurs are identified. Although only a small fraction of all wells appear to act as conduits, potential impacts may be significant considering needs to control nonpoint-source pollution and improve drinking water quality for rural residents. Addressing a limited number of areas where contaminant migration rates are expected to be high may cost-effectively accomplish the most beneficial groundwater quality protection and improvement. While this work focuses on a specific region, the results indicate that impacts from groups of wells may occur in other areas with similar conditions. Analyses similar to that demonstrated here may guide efficient investigation and corrective action in such areas with benefits occurring for groundwater quality. Potential benefits may justify expenditures to develop the necessary data for performing the analyses.

  3. Determinants of Iran's BilateralIntra-industry Trade in Pharmaceutical Industry.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Aghlmand, Siamak; Rahimi, Bahlol; Farrokh-Eslamlou, Hamidreza; Nabilou, Bahram; Yusefzadeh, Hassan

    2018-01-01

    Among non-oil and in trade arena, drug has always been strategic importance and most government especially industrialized countries pay special attention to its production and trade issues. Thus, having a comprehensive view from economic perspective to this section is essential for suggesting intervention. This was a descriptive-analytical and panel study. In this study, gravity model is used to estimate Iran's bilateral intra-industry trade in pharmaceutical products in the 2001-2012 periods. To illustrate the extent of pharmaceutical's intra-industry trade between Iran and its major trading partners, the explanatory variables of market size, income, factor endowments, distance, cultural contributions, and similarities and also special trade arrangements have been applied. Analysis of factors affecting Iran's bilateral intra-industry trade in pharmaceutical industry showed that the average GDP and cultural similarities had a significant positive impact on Iran's bilateral IIT, while the difference in GDP has a negative and significant effect. Coefficients obtained for the geographical distance and the average ratio of total capital to the labor force is not consistent with theoretical expectations. Special trade arrangements did not have significant impact on the extent of bilateral intra-industry trade between Iran and its trading partners. The knowledge of the intra-industry trade between Iran and its trade partners make integration between the countries. Factors affecting this type of trade pattern underlie its development in trade relationship. Therefore, the findings of this study would be useful in helping to develop and implement policies for the expansion of the pharmaceutical trade.

  4. Diagnosis of coccidioidomycosis in a non-endemic area: Inference of the probable geographic area of an infection.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fernández, Ramón; Arenas, Roberto; Duarte-Escalante, Esperanza; Frías-De León, María Guadalupe; Vega Memige, María Elisa; Acosta Altamirano, Gustavo; Reyes-Montes, María Del Rocío

    Coccidioidomycosis is one of the most important endemic mycoses in Northern Mexico. However, diagnosing this disease can be challenging, particularly in patients who do not reside in endemic areas. The case of a Mexican HIV+ patient who developed fever, general malaise, a severe cough, and dyspnea during a stay in Acapulco, Guerrero, Mexico, is presented. Since various diseases are endemic to the state of Guerrero, the doctors originally suspected that the patient had contracted influenza A (H1N1), Q fever, or tuberculosis. All the diagnostic tests for those diseases were negative. The patient had received numerous mosquito bites while staying in Acapulco, and a nodule had appeared on his right cheek. Therefore, malaria, cryptococcosis, and histoplasmosis were also suspected, but those infections were also ruled out through diagnostic tests. A direct microscopic examination was performed using KOH on a sample taken from the cheek nodule. The observation of spherules suggested the presence of a species of Coccidioides. The fungus was isolated, and its identity was confirmed by phenotypic and molecular methods. The geographic area in which the infection was likely acquired was identified by random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) analysis. The results suggested a probable endogenous reactivation. This clinical case illustrates the difficulties associated with diagnosing coccidioidomycosis in non-endemic areas. Copyright © 2017. Publicado por Elsevier España, S.L.U.

  5. GEOGRAPHIC NAMES INFORMATION SYSTEM (GNIS) ...

    Science.gov (United States)

    The Geographic Names Information System (GNIS), developed by the U.S. Geological Survey in cooperation with the U.S. Board on Geographic Names (BGN), contains information about physical and cultural geographic features in the United States and associated areas, both current and historical, but not including roads and highways. The database also contains geographic names in Antarctica. The database holds the Federally recognized name of each feature and defines the location of the feature by state, county, USGS topographic map, and geographic coordinates. Other feature attributes include names or spellings other than the official name, feature designations, feature class, historical and descriptive information, and for some categories of features the geometric boundaries. The database assigns a unique feature identifier, a random number, that is a key for accessing, integrating, or reconciling GNIS data with other data sets. The GNIS is our Nation's official repository of domestic geographic feature names information.

  6. Genetic polymorphism in Taenia solium metacestodes from different Brazilian geographic areas

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ivanildes Solange da Costa Barcelos

    2012-02-01

    Full Text Available The aim of the present study is to investigate genetic polymorphisms in Taenia solium metacestodes from different Brazilian geographical areas and to relate them to antibody recognition in serum samples of neurocysticercosis (NC patients. Metacestodes were obtained from the Distrito Federal (DF, Bahia, Minas Gerais (MG and São Paulo (SP regions of Brazil. Samples of human sera from 49 individuals with NC, 68 individuals with other helminthiasis and 40 healthy volunteers were analysed (157 individuals in total. Antigens were prepared and used in enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and western blotting assays to detect specific immunoglobulin G antibodies. Genetic distances between metacestode populations were analysed using random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD analysis. Our results show that there was a higher frequency of reactivity in the DF region in the sera from NC patients (p < 0.05, while discrimination between active and inactive NC was seen only in extracts from the MG and SP regions (p < 0.05. Using RAPD, the sample from the DF region presented a greater increase compared to the other regions. A relationship between genetic polymorphisms among T. solium metacestodes from different areas in Brazil and the differences in antibody detection in patients with NC were established.

  7. Geographical Clusters of Rape in the United States: 2000-2012

    Science.gov (United States)

    Amin, Raid; Nabors, Nicole S.; Nelson, Arlene M.; Saqlain, Murshid; Kulldorff, Martin

    2016-01-01

    Background While rape is a very serious crime and public health problem, no spatial mapping has been attempted for rape on the national scale. This paper addresses the three research questions: (1) Are reported rape cases randomly distributed across the USA, after being adjusted for population density and age, or are there geographical clusters of reported rape cases? (2) Are the geographical clusters of reported rapes still present after adjusting for differences in poverty levels? (3) Are there geographical clusters where the proportion of reported rape cases that lead to an arrest is exceptionally low or exceptionally high? Methods We studied the geographical variation of reported rape events (2003-2012) and rape arrests (2000-2012) in the 48 contiguous states of the USA. The disease Surveillance software SaTScan™ with its spatial scan statistic is used to evaluate the spatial variation in rapes. The spatial scan statistic has been widely used as a geographical surveillance tool for diseases, and we used it to identify geographical areas with clusters of reported rape and clusters of arrest rates for rape. Results The spatial scan statistic was used to identify geographical areas with exceptionally high rates of reported rape. The analyses were adjusted for age, and in secondary analyses, for both age and poverty level. We also identified geographical areas with either a low or a high proportion of reported rapes leading to an arrest. Conclusions We have identified geographical areas with exceptionally high (low) rates of reported rape. The geographical problem areas identified are prime candidates for more intensive preventive counseling and criminal prosecution efforts by public health, social service, and law enforcement agencies Geographical clusters of high rates of reported rape are prime areas in need of expanded implementation of preventive measures, such as changing attitudes in our society toward rape crimes, in addition to having the criminal

  8. The impact of trade costs on rare earth exports : a stochastic frontier estimation approach.

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Sanyal, Prabuddha; Brady, Patrick Vane; Vugrin, Eric D.

    2013-09-01

    The study develops a novel stochastic frontier modeling approach to the gravity equation for rare earth element (REE) trade between China and its trading partners between 2001 and 2009. The novelty lies in differentiating betweenbehind the border' trade costs by China and theimplicit beyond the border costs' of China's trading partners. Results indicate that the significance level of the independent variables change dramatically over the time period. While geographical distance matters for trade flows in both periods, the effect of income on trade flows is significantly attenuated, possibly capturing the negative effects of financial crises in the developed world. Second, the total export losses due tobehind the border' trade costs almost tripled over the time period. Finally, looking atimplicit beyond the border' trade costs, results show China gaining in some markets, although it is likely that some countries are substituting away from Chinese REE exports.

  9. Identifying Geographic Areas at Risk of Soil-transmitted Helminthes Infection Using Remote Sensing and Geographical Information Systems: Boaco, Nicaragua as a Case Study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Moreno, Max J.; Al-Hamdan, Mohammad Z.; Parajon, David G.; Rickman, Douglas L.; Luvall, Jeffrey; Estes, Sue; Podest, Erika

    2011-01-01

    Several types of intestinal nematodes, that can infect humans and specially school-age children living in poverty, develop part of their life cycle in soil. Presence and survival of these parasites in the soil depend on given environmental characteristics like temperature and moisture that can be inferred with remote sensing (RS) technology. Prevalence of diseases caused by these parasitic worms can be controlled and even eradicated with anthelmintic drug treatments and sanitation improvement. Reliable and updated identification of geographic areas at risk is required to implement effective public health programs; to calculate amount of drug required and to distribute funding for sanitation projects. RS technology and geographical information systems (GIS) will be used to analyze for associations between in situ prevalence and remotely sensed data in order to establish RS proxies of environmental parameters that indicate the presence of these parasits. In situ data on helminthisasis will be overlaid over an ecological map derived from RS data using ARC Map 9.3 (ESRI). Temperature, vegetation, and distance to bodies of water will be inferred using data from Moderate-Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) and Landsat TM and ETM+. Elevation will be estimated with data from The Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM). Prevalence and intensity of infections are determined by parasitological survey (Kato Katz) of children enrolled in rural schools in Boaco, Nicaragua, in the communities of El Roblar, Cumaica Norte, Malacatoya 1, and Malacatoya 2). This study will demonstrate the importance of an integrated GIS/RS approach to define clusters and areas at risk. Such information will help to the implementation of time and cost efficient control programs and sanitation efforts.

  10. Wildlife forensic science: A review of genetic geographic origin assignment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ogden, Rob; Linacre, Adrian

    2015-09-01

    Wildlife forensic science has become a key means of enforcing legislation surrounding the illegal trade in protected and endangered species. A relatively new dimension to this area of forensic science is to determine the geographic origin of a seized sample. This review focuses on DNA testing, which relies on assignment of an unknown sample to its genetic population of origin. Key examples of this are the trade in timber, fish and ivory and these are used only to illustrate the large number of species for which this type of testing is potentially available. The role of mitochondrial and nuclear DNA markers is discussed, alongside a comparison of neutral markers with those exhibiting signatures of selection, which potentially offer much higher levels of assignment power to address specific questions. A review of assignment tests is presented along with detailed methods for evaluating error rates and considerations for marker selection. The availability and quality of reference data are of paramount importance to support assignment applications and ensure reliability of any conclusions drawn. The genetic methods discussed have been developed initially as investigative tools but comment is made regarding their use in courts. The potential to compliment DNA markers with elemental assays for greater assignment power is considered and finally recommendations are made for the future of this type of testing. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

  11. Urban Growth Areas, Priority Funding Area (PFA) - Vector Database. PFAs are geographic growth areas defined under State law and designated by local jurisdictions to provide a map for targeting State investment in infrastructure., Published in 1998, 1:24000 (1in=2000ft) scale, Maryland Department of Planning.

    Data.gov (United States)

    NSGIC State | GIS Inventory — Urban Growth Areas dataset current as of 1998. Priority Funding Area (PFA) - Vector Database. PFAs are geographic growth areas defined under State law and designated...

  12. Determinants of Iran’s Bilateral Intra-industry Trade in Pharmaceutical Industry

    Science.gov (United States)

    Aghlmand, Siamak; Rahimi, Bahlol; Farrokh-Eslamlou, Hamidreza; Nabilou, Bahram; Yusefzadeh, Hassan

    2018-01-01

    Among non-oil and in trade arena, drug has always been strategic importance and most government especially industrialized countries pay special attention to its production and trade issues. Thus, having a comprehensive view from economic perspective to this section is essential for suggesting intervention. This was a descriptive-analytical and panel study. In this study, gravity model is used to estimate Iran’s bilateral intra-industry trade in pharmaceutical products in the 2001-2012 periods. To illustrate the extent of pharmaceutical’s intra-industry trade between Iran and its major trading partners, the explanatory variables of market size, income, factor endowments, distance, cultural contributions, and similarities and also special trade arrangements have been applied. Analysis of factors affecting Iran’s bilateral intra-industry trade in pharmaceutical industry showed that the average GDP and cultural similarities had a significant positive impact on Iran’s bilateral IIT, while the difference in GDP has a negative and significant effect. Coefficients obtained for the geographical distance and the average ratio of total capital to the labor force is not consistent with theoretical expectations. Special trade arrangements did not have significant impact on the extent of bilateral intra-industry trade between Iran and its trading partners. The knowledge of the intra-industry trade between Iran and its trade partners make integration between the countries. Factors affecting this type of trade pattern underlie its development in trade relationship. Therefore, the findings of this study would be useful in helping to develop and implement policies for the expansion of the pharmaceutical trade. PMID:29881438

  13. Enhancing U.S. National Security: The Case for Hemispheric Free Trade

    Science.gov (United States)

    1992-04-15

    and trade and relations with the hemisphere. Part III takes a closer look at the President’s free trade proposal, examining the pros and cons . In Part...objectives? We turn to this question next. FREE TRADE AREAS: PROS AND CONS A free trade area (FTA) can be said to expand economic well- being if it...Riahts Concerns Those who oppose hemispheric free trade on human rights grounds argue that free trade will engender sweatshop conditions in the lower

  14. Geographic variation of stable isotopes in African elephant ivory

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ziegler, S.; Merker, S.; Jacob, D.

    2012-04-01

    In 1989, the international community listed the African elephant in Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) thus prohibiting commercial ivory trade. Recent surveillance data show that the illegal trade in ivory has been growing worldwide. Long-term preservation of many of the African elephant populations can be supported with a control mechanism that helps with the implementation of remedial conservation action. Therefore, setting up a reference database that predicts the origin of ivory specimens can assist in determining smuggling routes and the provenance of illegal ivory. Our research builds on earlier work to seek an appropriate method for determining the area of origin for individual tusks. Several researchers have shown that the provenance of elephant ivory can be traced by its isotopic composition, but this is the first attempt to produce an integrated isotopic reference database of elephant ivory provenance. We applied a combination of various routine geochemical analyses to measure the stable isotope ratios of hydrogen, carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, and sulphur. Up to now, we analysed 606 ivory samples of known geographical origin from African range states, museums and private collections, comprising 22 African elephant range states. The isotopic measurements were superimposed with data layers from vegetation, geology and climate. A regression function for the isotope composition of the water isotopes in precipitation and collagen in ivory was developed to overcome the problem of imprecise origin of some of the sampled material. Multivariate statistics, such as nearest neighborhood and discriminate analysis were applied to eventually allow a statistical determination of the provenance for ivory of unknown origin. Our results suggest that the combination of isotopic parameters have the potential to provide predictable and complementary markers for estimating the origin of seized elephant ivory.

  15. Inter-utility trade in electricity

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Penman, A.

    1992-01-01

    Enhanced inter-utility cooperation could have a profound effect on the future of the electricity supply industry. Coordinated planning, development, and operations of electric power systems have the potential to reduce the cost of electricity to consumers and to lessen the impact of electricity supply on the environment. These effects could be achieved by being able to supply electricity from lower cost and more environmentally benign sources located over wider geographic areas, and having to install less new generating capacity. Access to transmission and wheeling services would be an important factor in allowing increased inter-utility cooperation to occur. Canada's National Energy Board conducted a review to identify measures that can be taken to enhance interprovincial trade in electricity, to encourage greater cooperation between electric utilities in the areas of systems planning and development, and to enable buyers and sellers of electricity to obtain access to available transmission capacity through intervening provinces for wheeling purposes. The work undertaken by the Board during that review is described. A total estimated economic benefit of $23-32.5 billion was identified, mainly from long-term firm sales and from seasonal diversity exchanges. Four options were developed that appear to be available to encourage and achieve enhanced inter-utility cooperation. These are continuation of voluntary cooperation, voluntary cooperation with federal monitoring, establishing voluntary regional planning entities, and establishing regional planning entities with mandated federal power

  16. CO2 embodied in international trade with implications for global climate policy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Peters, Glen P; Hertwich, Edgar G

    2008-03-01

    The flow of pollution through international trade flows has the ability to undermine environmental policies, particularly for global pollutants. In this article we determine the CO2 emissions embodied in international trade among 87 countries for the year 2001. We find that globally there are over 5.3 Gt of CO2 embodied in trade and that Annex B countries are net importers of CO2 emissions. Depending on country characteristics--such as size variables and geographic location--there are considerable variations in the embodied emissions. We argue that emissions embodied in trade may have a significant impact on participation in and effectiveness of global climate policies such as the Kyoto Protocol. We discuss several policy options to reduce the impact of trade in global climate policy. If countries take binding commitments as a part of a coalition, instead of as individual countries, then the impacts of trade can be substantially reduced. Adjusting emission inventories for trade gives a more consistent description of a country's environmental pressures and circumvents many trade related issues. It also gives opportunities to exploit trade as a means of mitigating emissions. Not least, a better understanding of the role that trade plays in a country's economic and environmental development will help design more effective and participatory climate policy post-Kyoto.

  17. Some Economics of Trade Secret Law

    OpenAIRE

    David D. Friedman; William M. Landes; Richard A. Posner

    1991-01-01

    Despite the practical importance of trade secrets to the business community, the law of trade secrets is a neglected orphan in economic analysis. This paper sketches an approach to the economics of trade secret law that connects it more closely both to other areas of intellectual property and to broader issues in the positive economic theory of the common law.

  18. Information needs for problem holders/solution providers: EnviroTRADE

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Robson, W.M.; Harrington, M.W.; Harlan, C.P.

    1994-01-01

    EnviroTRADE (or Environmental Technologies for Remedial Actions Data Exchange) is a domestic and international information system that matches environmental problems with potential technologies solutions by combining state of the art information management techniques, graphical interfaces and a Geographic Information System (GIS). Its search and match algorithms locate technologies relevant to specific environmental problems and identify sites where technology may be applicable. EnviroTRADE also provides many other kinds of database searches and reports. EnviroTRADE is a graphical/textural information management system being developed for the cleanup program of US Department of energy's nuclear weapons complex. Its principal purpose is to provide a single, powerful, interactive data source on the many environmental restoration and waste management (ER/WM) problems and on the technologies currently under development and available to resolve them. Because the volume and complexity of the information is so large, a sophisticated Relational database Management System (RDBMS) is employed for EnviroTRADE which accommodates graphical images, technical data, structured textural descriptions, and a variety of advanced multi-media data types. EnviroTRADE is a multi-purpose, multi-user system capable of addressing a broad range of environmental assessment and cleanup issues

  19. Information needs for problem holders/solution providers: EnviroTRADE

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Robson, W.M. [Lawrence Livermore National Lab., CA (United States); Harrington, M.W.; Harlan, C.P. [Sandia National Labs., Livermore, CA (United States)

    1994-12-31

    EnviroTRADE (or Environmental Technologies for Remedial Actions Data Exchange) is a domestic and international information system that matches environmental problems with potential technologies solutions by combining state of the art information management techniques, graphical interfaces and a Geographic Information System (GIS). Its search and match algorithms locate technologies relevant to specific environmental problems and identify sites where technology may be applicable. EnviroTRADE also provides many other kinds of database searches and reports. EnviroTRADE is a graphical/textural information management system being developed for the cleanup program of US Department of energy`s nuclear weapons complex. Its principal purpose is to provide a single, powerful, interactive data source on the many environmental restoration and waste management (ER/WM) problems and on the technologies currently under development and available to resolve them. Because the volume and complexity of the information is so large, a sophisticated Relational database Management System (RDBMS) is employed for EnviroTRADE which accommodates graphical images, technical data, structured textural descriptions, and a variety of advanced multi-media data types. EnviroTRADE is a multi-purpose, multi-user system capable of addressing a broad range of environmental assessment and cleanup issues.

  20. ASEAN free-trade area and its implications on the battery industry

    Science.gov (United States)

    Garrucho, Peter D., Jr.

    1994-02-01

    In February, 1992, the six ASEAN member nations agreed to reduce tariffs and thus, eventually, to create an ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA) over 15 years. AFTA will lead to more competition in the high-growth ASEAN battery domestic market. Already about ten companies from four countries export both to markets that are rigorous in quality (e.g., the USA and Australia) and to heavily discounted markets, e.g., the Middle East. To date, however, these manufacturers rarely sell to other ASEAN markets outside their home country. AFTA should also encourage manufacturers of battery equipment, mould making, separators, battery electricals, and testing equipment to locate their facilities in an ASEAN country. Technology and productivity is high and wages are reasonable in ASEAN nations and with AFTA, the markets are larger. Manufacturing complementation programmes will also become an attractive option.

  1. The implications of trade policy and 'natural' barriers induced protection for aggregate demand for imports: Evidence for Malawi

    OpenAIRE

    Zgovu, Evious K.

    2003-01-01

    This paper analyses the relative importance of trade policy and ‘natural’ trade barriers in the demand for imports for Malawi, a geographically landlocked sub-Saharan African economy, using an augmented dynamic import demand model. Incidence analysis of protection shows that pre-liberalisation trade policy barriers were greater than ‘natural’ barriers but in post-liberalisation ‘natural’ barriers were greater. Econometric analysis of the import demand model shows that ‘true’ protection of imp...

  2. Permit trading and credit trading

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Boom, Jan-Tjeerd; R. Dijstra, Bouwe

    This paper compares emissions trading based on a cap on total emissions (permit trading) and on relative standards per unit of output (credit trading). Two types of market structure are considered: perfect competition and Cournot oligopoly. We find that output, abatement costs and the number...... of firms are higher under credit trading. Allowing trade between permit-trading and credit-trading sectors may increase in welfare. With perfect competition, permit trading always leads to higher welfare than credit trading. With imperfect competition, credit trading may outperform permit trading....... Environmental policy can lead to exit, but also to entry of firms. Entry and exit have a profound impact on the performance of the schemes, especially under imperfect competition. We find that it may be impossible to implement certain levels of total industry emissions. Under credit trading several levels...

  3. Extension Resources for International Trade

    Science.gov (United States)

    Seal, Susan D.

    2016-01-01

    With the opening of additional trade partnerships, the reduction of global transportation and communication costs, and the increase in demand for U.S. agricultural products and services, international trade is an area of great importance to more and more Extension clients and stakeholders. This article provides information about the primary…

  4. Trade in health services.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chanda, Rupa

    2002-01-01

    In light of the increasing globalization of the health sector, this article examines ways in which health services can be traded, using the mode-wise characterization of trade defined in the General Agreement on Trade in Services. The trade modes include cross- border delivery of health services via physical and electronic means, and cross-border movement of consumers, professionals, and capital. An examination of the positive and negative implications of trade in health services for equity, efficiency, quality, and access to health care indicates that health services trade has brought mixed benefits and that there is a clear role for policy measures to mitigate the adverse consequences and facilitate the gains. Some policy measures and priority areas for action are outlined, including steps to address the "brain drain"; increasing investment in the health sector and prioritizing this investment better; and promoting linkages between private and public health care services to ensure equity. Data collection, measures, and studies on health services trade all need to be improved, to assess better the magnitude and potential implications of this trade. In this context, the potential costs and benefits of trade in health services are shaped by the underlying structural conditions and existing regulatory, policy, and infrastructure in the health sector. Thus, appropriate policies and safeguard measures are required to take advantage of globalization in health services. PMID:11953795

  5. National protectionism and common trade policy

    OpenAIRE

    Koopmann, Georg

    1984-01-01

    The EC recently created a new instrument of trade policy to deter illicit trade practices. A major part of its purpose is to strengthen the Community’s authority in the area of trade policy and counter the spread of international protectionism within the Community. The following article demonstrates, among other things, that protectionism in the Community cannot offer a workable alternative to this course.

  6. A Dragon and a Dove? A Comparative Overview of Chinese and European Trade Relations with Sub-Saharan Africa

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Bert Jacobs

    2011-01-01

    Full Text Available As China’s footprint in African trade grows larger by the day, the need to contextualize this rise through comparative analysis becomes ever more necessary. This paper contrasts the sub-Saharan trade relations of both China and Europe with their respective designated stereotypes: those of a dragon and a dove. The article compares the trade dynamics on four levels: the policies and institutional mechanisms that shape the relationship; the composition of the trade flows; the geographic distribution of trade dominance; and the influence of norms and values on the trade pattern. It concludes that although there are empirical grounds behind these stereotypes, Chinese and European trade relations with sub-Saharan Africa are becoming more similar, partly due to a more hawkish European stance.

  7. INNOVATIONS OF THE TRADE MARKETING IN LATVIA

    OpenAIRE

    Spīča, Inese; Spīčs, Ernests

    2010-01-01

    In the rapidly changing environment contemporary marketing activities affects educational programms. The paper analyze the marketing and sales current events in Latvia. In this paper given a substantive explanation of trade marketing and trade marketing development opportunities for Latvia, trade marketing new development areas and to clarify their learning opportunities in Latvia.

  8. Retail trade in Tarnow in the years 2011-2014. Diagnosis and trends

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Y. Stroynyiy

    2016-10-01

    Full Text Available The level of retailing in Tarnow in the years 2011-2014 has been analyzed. The origins and the development of trade in Tarnow have been shown throughout history. The attention has been drawn to such very important fact as the geographical location of the city, which is near the main trade routes and how it affected the development of trade from the beginning of its foundation. In addition to the position, very big influence on the development of trade did the fact that a high proportion of Tarnow inhabitants were Jews, who dominated in the retail. Second part of the article is related to the Polish accession to the European Union, which has had a great impact on the retail sector in Tarnow, and the introduction of principles of market economy. The quantitative and qualitative trade analyses during the period of years 2011-2014 have been discussed thoroughly. Both statistical data and results of author’s research have been used. The information about present shopping centers, supermarkets, department stores, retail shops, kiosks and stalls has been given. Moreover, the empirical diagnosis of the studied area has also been made. The transformations, which were followed by the expansion of large chains stores and the related changes in customers’ preferences during the last years, have been mentioned. The dynamics of the changes and their impact on the development and the retailing organization in Tarnow has been described in the last part of the article. Opportunities and risks have been shown, both for entrepreneurs, consumers and for the economy of the city. The article ends with description of changes in the structure of retailing in Tarnow in the coming years, with the problems related to the migration of young people to big cities and abroad, and the change of their lifestyles that enforces new sales standards.

  9. Current Knowledge of Leishmania Vectors in Mexico: How Geographic Distributions of Species Relate to Transmission Areas

    Science.gov (United States)

    González, Camila; Rebollar-Téllez, Eduardo A.; Ibáñez-Bernal, Sergio; Becker-Fauser, Ingeborg; Martínez-Meyer, Enrique; Peterson, A. Townsend; Sánchez-Cordero, Víctor

    2011-01-01

    Leishmaniases are a group of vector-borne diseases with different clinical manifestations caused by parasites transmitted by sand fly vectors. In Mexico, the sand fly Lutzomyia olmeca olmeca is the only vector proven to transmit the parasite Leishmania mexicana to humans, which causes leishmaniasis. Other vector species with potential medical importance have been obtained, but their geographic distributions and relation to transmission areas have never been assessed. We modeled the ecological niches of nine sand fly species and projected niches to estimate potential distributions by using known occurrences, environmental coverages, and the algorithms GARP and Maxent. All vector species were distributed in areas with known recurrent transmission, except for Lu. diabolica, which appeared to be related only to areas of occasional transmission in northern Mexico. The distribution of Lu. o. olmeca does not overlap with all reported cutaneous leishmaniasis cases, suggesting that Lu. cruciata and Lu. shannoni are likely also involved as primary vectors in those areas. Our study provides useful information of potential risk areas of leishmaniasis transmission in Mexico. PMID:22049037

  10. The trade-off between safety and efficiency in hydraulic architecture in 31 woody species in a karst area.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fan, Da-Yong; Jie, Sheng-Lin; Liu, Chang-Cheng; Zhang, Xiang-Ying; Xu, Xin-Wu; Zhang, Shou-Ren; Xie, Zong-Qiang

    2011-08-01

    Karst topography is a special landscape shaped by the dissolution of one or more layers of soluble bedrock, usually carbonate rock such as limestone or dolomite. Due to subterranean drainage, overland flow, extraction of water by plants and evapotranspiration, there may be very limited surface water. The hydraulic architecture that plants use to adapt to karst topography is very interesting, but few systematic reports exist. The karst area in southwestern China is unique when compared with other karst areas at similar latitudes, because of its abundant precipitation, with rainfall concentrated in the growing season. In theory, resistance to water-stress-induced cavitation via air seeding should be accompanied by decreased pore hydraulic conductivity and stem hydraulic conductivity. However, evidence for such trade-offs across species is ambiguous. We measured the hydraulic structure and foliar stable carbon isotope ratios of 31 karst woody plants at three locations in Guizhou Province, China, to evaluate the functional coordination between resistance to cavitation and specific conductivity. We also applied phylogenetically independent contrast (PIC) analysis in situations where the inter-species correlations of functional traits may be biased on the potential similarity of closely related species. The average xylem tension measurement, at which 50% of hydraulic conductivity of the plants was lost (Ψ(50)), was only -1.27 MPa. Stem Ψ(50) was positively associated with specific conductance (K(s)) (P sapwood area:leaf area ratio) was negatively correlated with K(s) in both the traditional cross-species correlation and the corresponding PIC correlations (P < 0.01). The characteristics of hydraulic architecture measured in this study showed that karst plants in China are not highly cavitation-resistant species. This study also supports the idea that there may not be an evolutionary trade-off between resistance to cavitation and specific conductivity in woody

  11. Trade Credit and Access to Finance of Retailers in Ethiopia

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Beck, T.H.L.; Hoseini, Mohammad; Uras, Burak

    2018-01-01

    Using data on 5,500 Ethiopian retailers, we document that there is lower use of trade credit in areas with more access to bank finance. Among firms within an area, however, receiving a bank loan increases the use of trade credit by informal firms, but has no association with trade credit of formal

  12. The loss of species: mangrove extinction risk and geographic areas of global concern.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Polidoro, Beth A; Carpenter, Kent E; Collins, Lorna; Duke, Norman C; Ellison, Aaron M; Ellison, Joanna C; Farnsworth, Elizabeth J; Fernando, Edwino S; Kathiresan, Kandasamy; Koedam, Nico E; Livingstone, Suzanne R; Miyagi, Toyohiko; Moore, Gregg E; Ngoc Nam, Vien; Ong, Jin Eong; Primavera, Jurgenne H; Salmo, Severino G; Sanciangco, Jonnell C; Sukardjo, Sukristijono; Wang, Yamin; Yong, Jean Wan Hong

    2010-04-08

    Mangrove species are uniquely adapted to tropical and subtropical coasts, and although relatively low in number of species, mangrove forests provide at least US $1.6 billion each year in ecosystem services and support coastal livelihoods worldwide. Globally, mangrove areas are declining rapidly as they are cleared for coastal development and aquaculture and logged for timber and fuel production. Little is known about the effects of mangrove area loss on individual mangrove species and local or regional populations. To address this gap, species-specific information on global distribution, population status, life history traits, and major threats were compiled for each of the 70 known species of mangroves. Each species' probability of extinction was assessed under the Categories and Criteria of the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Eleven of the 70 mangrove species (16%) are at elevated threat of extinction. Particular areas of geographical concern include the Atlantic and Pacific coasts of Central America, where as many as 40% of mangroves species present are threatened with extinction. Across the globe, mangrove species found primarily in the high intertidal and upstream estuarine zones, which often have specific freshwater requirements and patchy distributions, are the most threatened because they are often the first cleared for development of aquaculture and agriculture. The loss of mangrove species will have devastating economic and environmental consequences for coastal communities, especially in those areas with low mangrove diversity and high mangrove area or species loss. Several species at high risk of extinction may disappear well before the next decade if existing protective measures are not enforced.

  13. The loss of species: mangrove extinction risk and geographic areas of global concern.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Beth A Polidoro

    2010-04-01

    Full Text Available Mangrove species are uniquely adapted to tropical and subtropical coasts, and although relatively low in number of species, mangrove forests provide at least US $1.6 billion each year in ecosystem services and support coastal livelihoods worldwide. Globally, mangrove areas are declining rapidly as they are cleared for coastal development and aquaculture and logged for timber and fuel production. Little is known about the effects of mangrove area loss on individual mangrove species and local or regional populations. To address this gap, species-specific information on global distribution, population status, life history traits, and major threats were compiled for each of the 70 known species of mangroves. Each species' probability of extinction was assessed under the Categories and Criteria of the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Eleven of the 70 mangrove species (16% are at elevated threat of extinction. Particular areas of geographical concern include the Atlantic and Pacific coasts of Central America, where as many as 40% of mangroves species present are threatened with extinction. Across the globe, mangrove species found primarily in the high intertidal and upstream estuarine zones, which often have specific freshwater requirements and patchy distributions, are the most threatened because they are often the first cleared for development of aquaculture and agriculture. The loss of mangrove species will have devastating economic and environmental consequences for coastal communities, especially in those areas with low mangrove diversity and high mangrove area or species loss. Several species at high risk of extinction may disappear well before the next decade if existing protective measures are not enforced.

  14. Endogeneity of Currency Areas and Trade Blocs: Evidence from the Inter-War Period

    OpenAIRE

    Wolf, Nikolaus; Ritschl, Albrecht

    2003-01-01

    Empirical research on the gravity model of international trade in the wake of Rose (2000) affirms that currency union formation doubles or triples trade. However, currency unions could also be established precisely because trade among their members was already high. In OLS estimation, this would cause endogeneity bias. The present paper employs both fixed effects and binary choice methods to trace endogeneity in the formation of historical currency arrangements. Studying the formation of curr...

  15. Formation of the City of Belém (PA: Central Area and its Paper Historical and Geographical

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Antônio Carlos Ribeiro Araújo Júnior

    2012-12-01

    Full Text Available In the 17th Century the urban life of Belém spread out from a promontorylocated at the meeting point of Guajará Bay and Guamá River. These "natural obstacles" (waterways, floodplains and flooded forest presented momentary setbacks to urban expansion. Overcoming these obstacles the city of Belém developed a central area characerized by change and continuity. By identifying and analyzing historical and geographical changes in the central area of Belém a better understanding can be obtained of new functions and features of urban space in Belém today.

  16. An examination of the International Natural Gas Trade

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mazighi, A.

    2003-01-01

    Recent developments in the liquefied natural gas (LNG) industry, particularly the ongoing projects of liquefaction and regasification and the increasing number of LNG-carriers to be delivered in forthcoming years, have led some specialists to argue that LNG is today a crossroads between regionalisation and globalisation. Other specialists think that, by LNG's share of the total international trade of natural gas will be predominant, compared to that of pipelines. All these assumptions are based on an examination of the duration and ongoing international gas projects. The objective of our article is to examine the historical patterns of the international natural gas and discuss the conditions for the globalisation of LNG trade. Using some evidence on the international trade of natural gas from 1970 to 1997, we show the A strong correlation exists between the international trade of gas by pipeline and LNG becomes predominant, we need a delinking of these two means of trading gas. Globalisation of the LNG trade is not only linked to an increase in the relative share trade; it is also and primarily linked to an increase in the inter-area trade of LNG. There is a negligible change in the pattern of inter-area and intra-area trade of even during the late 1990s; this is due to the contracted nature of the LNG international that resulted in a stickiness of LNG routes. The emergence of a global LNG market requires the satisfaction of four conditions: economic, technical and institutional conditions - therefore, it will certainly take more years to make ING a global commodity. (author)

  17. Veterans Affairs Geographic Distribution of Expenditures FY09 by Congressional District

    Data.gov (United States)

    Department of Veterans Affairs — The Geographic Distribution of VA Expenditures (GDX) is an annual report that shows estimated VA expenditures for major programmatic areas by geographic area (state,...

  18. Veterans Affairs Geographic Distribution of Expenditures FY08 by Congressional District

    Data.gov (United States)

    Department of Veterans Affairs — The Geographic Distribution of VA Expenditures (GDX) is an annual report that shows estimated VA expenditures for major programmatic areas by geographic area (state,...

  19. Maths for the building trades

    CERN Document Server

    Kidd, Jim

    2014-01-01

    Maths for the Building Trades provides students of all ages with an easy-to-understand guide to the fundamental mathematics that is required in their area of study and beyond. It can be used as a learning programme on its own or in conjunction with the textbooks associated with their chosen trade. The book assumes only a minimum level of mathematical knowledge and thoroughly covers the basic rules. It then goes on to fully explain some of the more complex areas in which the student will be required to demonstrate competence.

  20. REFLECTIONS ON PRODUCTION INTERNALIZATION AND ITS INTERNATIONAL TRADE IMPLICATIONS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    CLIPA RALUCA IRINA

    2014-06-01

    Full Text Available Vertically-integrated multinational companies place the different stages of production and marketing chain in different countries, looking for advantages such as low production costs, lower taxes, abundant resources and so on, while benefiting from the advantages of economies of scale, control of supplies or outlets. In fact, this vertical integration of multinational companies has led to the expansion of intra-firm trade and "internalized" operations, thus creating their own markets for the vertically-integrated production. Internationally active firms operate in a way that replaces the different functions of an open market with internal transactions, i.e. intra-firm transactions, whenever internal transaction costs are lower than the open-market ones. The direct consequence over international trade is the increase of intra-firm share of trade flows to one third of world trade, those companies making a suppression of international market segments that act in favour of an internal market. The creation of a multinational market and the enhancement of intra-firm trade have profound quantitative and qualitative implications on the composition, geographic orientation and dynamics of international trade. This paper deals with the issue of production internalization, with an overview of the main contributions made to the theory of internalization, while tackling its relative dimension. However, we intend to highlight the implications of this phenomenon on international trade. The work methodology falls within the range of qualitative approaches: logical argumentation, critical theoretical analysis.

  1. Soil Survey Geographic (SSURGO) database for Torrance Area, New Mexico

    Data.gov (United States)

    Earth Data Analysis Center, University of New Mexico — This data set is a digital soil survey and generally is the most detailed level of soil geographic data developed by the National Cooperative Soil Survey. The...

  2. Soil Survey Geographic (SSURGO) database for Otero Area, New Mexico

    Data.gov (United States)

    Earth Data Analysis Center, University of New Mexico — This data set is a digital soil survey and generally is the most detailed level of soil geographic data developed by the National Cooperative Soil Survey. The...

  3. Soil Survey Geographic (SSURGO) database for Eddy Area, New Mexico

    Data.gov (United States)

    Earth Data Analysis Center, University of New Mexico — This data set is a digital soil survey and generally is the most detailed level of soil geographic data developed by the National Cooperative Soil Survey. The...

  4. Ceramic compositional interpretation of incense-burner trade in the Palenque Area, Mexico

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bishop, R.L.; Rands, R.L.; Harbottle, G.

    1982-01-01

    The Clasic Maya culture of southern Mesoamerica had a strong theocratic orientation. Notable aspects of ceremonialism in the Palenque area include incense-burning, expressed archaeologically in ceramic supports and receptacles (incensarios). Incensarios form part of a much larger body of regional ceramics now being intensively studied. Objectives are to determine manufacturing centers and the directional flow of trading relationships; therefore paste composition is accorded special importance. Compositional data are derived through sampling that is successively less extensive but more intensive (binocular examination, petrography, and neutron activation). Focussing primarily on chemical composition, data reduction is achieved by a related set of vector manipulative techniques. The resulting paste compositional reference units are evaluated by correlation with petrographic and archaeological information. Preliminary findings suggest that the ceremonial center of Palenque was the major focus of incensario manufacture

  5. Ceramic compositional interpretation of incense-burner trade in the Palenque Area, Mexico

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Bishop, R.L. (Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA); Rands, R.L.; Harbottle, G.

    1982-01-01

    The Clasic Maya culture of southern Mesoamerica had a strong theocratic orientation. Notable aspects of ceremonialism in the Palenque area include incense-burning, expressed archaeologically in ceramic supports and receptacles (incensarios). Incensarios form part of a much larger body of regional ceramics now being intensively studied. Objectives are to determine manufacturing centers and the directional flow of trading relationships; therefore paste composition is accorded special importance. Compositional data are derived through sampling that is successively less extensive but more intensive (binocular examination, petrography, and neutron activation). Focussing primarily on chemical composition, data reduction is achieved by a related set of vector manipulative techniques. The resulting paste compositional reference units are evaluated by correlation with petrographic and archaeological information. Preliminary findings suggest that the ceremonial center of Palenque was the major focus of incensario manufacture.

  6. Using geographic information systems to identify prospective marketing areas for a special library.

    Science.gov (United States)

    McConnaughy, Rozalynd P; Wilson, Steven P

    2006-05-04

    The Center for Disability Resources (CDR) Library is the largest collection of its kind in the Southeastern United States, consisting of over 5,200 books, videos/DVDs, brochures, and audiotapes covering a variety of disability-related topics, from autism to transition resources. The purpose of the library is to support the information needs of families, faculty, students, staff, and other professionals in South Carolina working with individuals with disabilities. The CDR Library is funded on a yearly basis; therefore, maintaining high usage is crucial. A variety of promotional efforts have been used to attract new patrons to the library. Anyone in South Carolina can check out materials from the library, and most of the patrons use the library remotely by requesting materials, which are then mailed to them. The goal of this project was to identify areas of low geographic usage as a means of identifying locations for future library marketing efforts. Nearly four years worth of library statistics were compiled in a spreadsheet that provided information per county on the number of checkouts, the number of renewals, and the population. Five maps were created using ArcView GIS software to create visual representations of patron checkout and renewal behavior per county. Out of the 46 counties in South Carolina, eight counties never checked out materials from the library. As expected urban areas and counties near the library's physical location have high usage totals. The visual representation of the data made identification of low usage regions easier than using a standalone database with no visual-spatial component. The low usage counties will be the focus of future Center for Disability Resources Library marketing efforts. Due to the impressive visual-spatial representations created with Geographic Information Systems, which more efficiently communicate information than stand-alone database information can, librarians may benefit from the software's use as a

  7. Commentary: Moving towards policy coherence in trade and health.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Walls, Helen; Baker, Phillip; Smith, Richard

    2015-11-01

    International trade has brought economic benefits to many countries, but the association of trade and investment liberalisation with poor health outcomes concerns the public health community. The need to secure more 'healthy' trade is a recognised priority, especially as countries move from global to regional/bilateral trade agreements - with greater public health risks. However, a transition towards 'healthier trade' may be hindered by worldview differences between the trade and health communities. There is a tendency for health actors to perceive trade as a threat to population health, and for trade actors to view health as a constraint to trade objectives of reducing barriers to cross-border commercial flows and economic growth. Unless such differing worldviews can be aligned, finding ways forward for addressing public health in trade policy is likely to be difficult. Moving forward will involve understanding the values and drivers of the respective groups, and developing solutions palatable to their various interests. Given the power imbalances between the two areas, it is likely that the health community will have to make the first moves in this respect. This article outlines the key issues involved and suggests areas where such moves have been, and may be made.

  8. FORMAL TRADE BETWEEN INDIA AND BANGLADESH: AN EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    S. K.S. YADAV

    2016-08-01

    Full Text Available The importance of improving trade flows between India and Bangladesh is not only beneficial to them, but for the whole SAARC region, given that Bhutan and Nepal utilise Bangladesh ports as gateways to trade outside the region. Bangladesh’s overall exports are dominated by labour-intensive manufacturing and its imports to India by primary commodities. The shares of manufactured goods in country’s overall export were about 92 and 91 percent in 2001 and 2011 respectively. However, the composition of bilateral trade between these two countries has been changing over time. Addition and removal in the list of products of trade basket is a usual process. Consistent products in the trade basket of Bangladesh are ready made garments and sea food, whereas those of India are raw cotton, cereals and products and machinery of iron and steel. Expansion of trade of these countries with outside world, but not with each other confirms the prevalence of certain barriers, physical or non-physical in nature, rendering many potential products remain untraded. India and Bangladesh being geographically proximate to each other possess huge scope to trade. Specifically as both the countries are rich in natural resources and are competent in the production of small-scale manufacturing and agrarian supplies, mostly from the eastern parts of India and Bangladesh, both possess huge potential for bilateral trade. Many items having high trade potential are still not able to get market exposure in the neighbouring country because of various non-tariff barriers prevailing in current trade scenario, which have hiked up the cost of doing business to unacceptable proportions and as most of the highly tradable products are still kept under the sensitive lists of Bangladesh. There are numerous bottlenecks in the current trade infrastructure which turns out to be physical barrier to trade. The present paper highlights the import export and Exchange Rate change and prospects of

  9. Trade Integration Effects in ASEAN Countries

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yana Valeryevna Dyomina

    2015-09-01

    Full Text Available The paper examines evolution of trade integration process in ASEAN. The author employs three methods in order to evaluate the degree of ASEAN‘s trade integration that has been achieved over two decades since the signing of the Association of South-East Asian Nations Free Trade Area Agreement (AFTA in 1992. The high degree of trade integration among member states allows moving to the next stage of international economic integration (ASEAN countries are going to form ASEAN Community (the Common Market by the 1st of January 2016. So the study assesses the ASEAN’s preparedness to the Common Market by determining the share of mutual (intraregional trade, regional trade intensity index (RTII and trade integration effects (trade creation and trade diversion effects for each member state, 2 groups of ASEAN countries (ASEAN-6 and ASEAN-4 and the Association as a whole. The paper shows that despite the increase in the share of intraregional trade during the years of the AFTA functioning, the member states of ASEAN still demonstrate low levels of trade integration: a 75% of the Association’s external trade focuses on extra regional partners; b ASEAN as a whole has the low volume of RTII and among its member states only Singapore has the high one; c trade diversion effect prevails over trade creation one

  10. Analysis of international negotiations and trade agreements

    OpenAIRE

    Górriz Gonzalo, Verónica

    2014-01-01

    This study aims to analyze international trade agreements and negotiations. For that purpose, two agreements made by the United States are chosen to be analyzed. In the first place, the North America Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) agreement, that was signed by the United States, Canada and Mexico in 1994 in order to create a free trade area. In addition, the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) will be analyze, an agreement that is still being negotiated between the United Stat...

  11. A research on EU trade policy system

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Qi Sitong

    2017-08-01

    Full Text Available The EU is the world’s largest trade group, occupying an important position in the world trade in goods and services, especially in the field of service trade. The EU trade in services exports and imports are higher than the United States and Japan, and the EU is the world’s largest capital output and input group, and the world’s largest foreign aid providers. With the deepening of the European integration process, Europe’s position in the world economy and trade is on the rise. Therefore, the EU’s trade policy has increasingly become the focus of attention. From the vertical point of view, research directions can be divided into trade in goods policy, trade in services policy, international direct investment policy, trade-related intellectual property policy four field. In this paper, the four vertical areas are illustrated as the focus of the study.

  12. Geographic distribution of the tortoises and freshwater turtles of Colombia and their representation in the protected area network

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Forero Medina, German; Yusti Munoz, Ana Paola; Castano Mora, Olga V

    2014-01-01

    Colombia has a remarkable diversity of tortoises and freshwater turtles. However, a considerable portion of these species is threatened, and for others there is not enough information to make an adequate evaluation of their conservation status. This study is a first approximation to the quantitative evaluation of the geographic distribution of Colombia's non-marine chelonians. Based on records of occurrence for each species, we evaluated the geographic distribution using statistical models (maxent), hydrological basins, and the extent of occurrence and area of occupancy. Based on the presence data and the models, we studied the representation of each species in national natural parks (NNP), which correspond to the most rigorous conservation category of IUCN classification in Colombia, and other types of protected areas such as private reserves. We generated distribution models and estimated the area (km"2) for 25 out of 27 species in the country. This information will be valuable for updating and evaluating the threat categories at the national level. The areas with the highest species richness correspond to the riverine ecosystems of the Amazon and Orinoco River Basins and the Caribbean Region, particularly the Western Caribbean. This region is a top priority not only because of its richness but also because of the presence of endemics and its high level of threat. Only 56 % of the species have confirmed records within national parks. A greater portion could be present in these areas according to the statistical models, but only ten of those species would have more than 10 % of their ranges within a park's boundary. Although the resulting models have certain limitations due to the nature of the data and analyses, they can be a starting point for research on the occurrence of turtles in NNP. Endemic species are poorly represented in protected areas, both in NNP and in other categories. Thus, protected areas that can assure the persistence of their populations are

  13. The geographic accessibility of pharmacies in Nova Scotia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Law, Michael R; Heard, Deborah; Fisher, Judith; Douillard, Jay; Muzika, Greg; Sketris, Ingrid S

    2013-01-01

    Geographic proximity is an important component of access to primary care and the pharmaceutical services of community pharmacies. Variations in access to primary care have been found between rural and urban areas in Canadian and international jurisdictions. We studied access to community pharmacies in the province of Nova Scotia. We used information on the locations of 297 community pharmacies operating in Nova Scotia in June 2011. Population estimates at the census block level and network analysis were used to study the number of Nova Scotia residents living within 800 m (walking) and 2 km and 5 km (driving) distances of a pharmacy. We then simulated the impact of pharmacy closures on geographic access in urban and rural areas. We found that 40.3% of Nova Scotia residents lived within walking distance of a pharmacy; 62.6% and 78.8% lived within 2 km and 5 km, respectively. Differences between urban and rural areas were pronounced: 99.2% of urban residents lived within 5 km of a pharmacy compared with 53.3% of rural residents. Simulated pharmacy closures had a greater impact on geographic access to community pharmacies in rural areas than urban areas. The majority of Nova Scotia residents lived within walking or short driving distance of at least 1 community pharmacy. While overall geographic access appears to be lower than in the province of Ontario, the difference appears to be largely driven by the higher proportion of rural dwellers in Nova Scotia. Further studies should examine how geographic proximity to pharmacies influences patients' access to traditional and specialized pharmacy services, as well as health outcomes and adherence to therapy. Can Pharm J 2013;146:39-46.

  14. Area-delay trade-offs of texture decompressors for a graphics processing unit

    Science.gov (United States)

    Novoa Súñer, Emilio; Ituero, Pablo; López-Vallejo, Marisa

    2011-05-01

    Graphics Processing Units have become a booster for the microelectronics industry. However, due to intellectual property issues, there is a serious lack of information on implementation details of the hardware architecture that is behind GPUs. For instance, the way texture is handled and decompressed in a GPU to reduce bandwidth usage has never been dealt with in depth from a hardware point of view. This work addresses a comparative study on the hardware implementation of different texture decompression algorithms for both conventional (PCs and video game consoles) and mobile platforms. Circuit synthesis is performed targeting both a reconfigurable hardware platform and a 90nm standard cell library. Area-delay trade-offs have been extensively analyzed, which allows us to compare the complexity of decompressors and thus determine suitability of algorithms for systems with limited hardware resources.

  15. The ASEAN Free-Trade Area and its implications on the battery industry

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Garrucho, P.D. Jr.

    1994-01-01

    In February, 1992, the six ASEAN member nations agreed to reduce tariffs and thus, eventually, to create an ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA) over 15 years. AFTA will lead to more competition in the high-growth ASEAN battery domestic market. Already about ten companies from four countries export both to markets that are rigorous in quality (e.g., the USA and Australia) and to heavily discounted markets, e.g., the Middle East. To date, however, these manufacturers rarely sell to other Asean markets outside their home country. AFTA should also encourage manufacturers of battery equipment, mould making, separators, battery electricals, and testing equipment to locate their facilities in an Asean country. Technology and productivity is high and wages are reasonable in ASEAN nations and with AFTA, the markets are larger. Manufacturing complementation programmes will also become an attractive option. (orig.)

  16. Electric trade in the United States 1992

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    1994-09-01

    This publication, Electric Trade in the US 1992 (ELECTRA), is the fourth in a series of reports on wholesale power transactions prepared by the Electric Data Systems Branch, Survey Management Division, Office of Coal, Nuclear, Electric and Alternate Fuels, Energy Information Administration (EIA). The electric trade data are published biennially. The first report presented 1986 data, and this report provides information on the electric power industry during 1992. The electric trade data collected and presented in this report furnish important information on the wholesale structure found within the US electric power industry. The patterns of interutility trade in the report support analyses of wholesale power transactions and provide input for a broader understanding of bulk power market issues that define the emerging national electric energy policies. The report includes information on the quantity of power purchased, sold, exchanged, and wheeled; the geographical locations of transactions and ownership classes involved; and the revenues and costs. Information on the physical transmission system are being included for the first time in this publication. Transmission data covering investor-owned electric utilities were shifted from the Financial Statistics of Selected Investor-Owned Electric Utilities to the ELECTRA publication. Some of the prominent features of this year`s report include information and data not published before on transmission lines for publicly owned utilities and transmission lines added during 1992 by investor-owned electric utilities.

  17. Electric trade in the United States 1992

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1994-09-01

    This publication, Electric Trade in the US 1992 (ELECTRA), is the fourth in a series of reports on wholesale power transactions prepared by the Electric Data Systems Branch, Survey Management Division, Office of Coal, Nuclear, Electric and Alternate Fuels, Energy Information Administration (EIA). The electric trade data are published biennially. The first report presented 1986 data, and this report provides information on the electric power industry during 1992. The electric trade data collected and presented in this report furnish important information on the wholesale structure found within the US electric power industry. The patterns of interutility trade in the report support analyses of wholesale power transactions and provide input for a broader understanding of bulk power market issues that define the emerging national electric energy policies. The report includes information on the quantity of power purchased, sold, exchanged, and wheeled; the geographical locations of transactions and ownership classes involved; and the revenues and costs. Information on the physical transmission system are being included for the first time in this publication. Transmission data covering investor-owned electric utilities were shifted from the Financial Statistics of Selected Investor-Owned Electric Utilities to the ELECTRA publication. Some of the prominent features of this year's report include information and data not published before on transmission lines for publicly owned utilities and transmission lines added during 1992 by investor-owned electric utilities

  18. 77 FR 31432 - Requested Administrative Waiver of the Coastwise Trade Laws: Vessel PASSION; Invitation for...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2012-05-25

    ... DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION Maritime Administration [Docket No. MARAD 2012 0062] Requested Administrative Waiver of the Coastwise Trade Laws: Vessel PASSION; Invitation for Public Comments AGENCY... PASSION is: Intended Commercial Use of Vessel: ``Bareboat chartering, sailing classes.'' Geographic Region...

  19. 76 FR 75948 - Requested Administrative Waiver of the Coastwise Trade Laws: Vessel CHRYSALIS; Invitation for...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-12-05

    ... DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION Maritime Administration [Docket No. MARAD-2011 0149] Requested Administrative Waiver of the Coastwise Trade Laws: Vessel CHRYSALIS; Invitation for Public Comments AGENCY... CHRYSALIS is: Intended Commercial Use of Vessel: ``Weekly charter vessel.'' Geographic Region: ``Florida...

  20. Veterans Affairs Geographic Distribution of Expenditures FY07 by State and County

    Data.gov (United States)

    Department of Veterans Affairs — The Geographic Distribution of VA Expenditures (GDX) is an annual report that shows estimated VA expenditures for major programmatic areas by geographic area (state,...

  1. Veterans Affairs Geographic Distribution of Expenditures FY08 by State and County

    Data.gov (United States)

    Department of Veterans Affairs — The Geographic Distribution of VA Expenditures (GDX) is an annual report that shows estimated VA expenditures for major programmatic areas by geographic area (state,...

  2. Sex-specific differences of craniofacial traits in Croatia: the impact of environment in a small geographic area.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Buretic-Tomljanovic, Alena; Giacometti, Jasminka; Ostojic, Sasa; Kapovic, Miljenko

    2007-01-01

    Craniometric variation in humans reflects different genetic and environmental influences. Long-term climatic adaptation is less likely to show an impact on size and shape variation in a small local area than at the global level. The aim of this work was to assess the contribution of the particular environmental factors to body height and craniofacial variability in a small geographic area of Croatia. A total of 632 subjects, aged 18-21, participated in the survey. Body height, head length, head breadth, head height, head circumference, cephalic index, morphological face height, face breadth, and facial index were analysed regarding geographic, climatic and dietary conditions in different regions of the country, and correlated with the specific climatic variables (cumulative multiyear sunshine duration, cumulative multiyear average precipitation, multiyear average air temperatures) and calcium concentrations in drinking water. Significant differences between groups classified according to geographic, climatic or dietary affiliation, and the impact of the environmental predictors on the variation in the investigated traits were assessed using multiple forward stepwise regression analyses. Higher body height measures in both sexes were significantly correlated with Mediterranean diet type. Mediterranean diet type also contributed to higher head length and head circumference measures in females. Cephalic index values correlated to geographic regions in both sexes, showing an increase from southern to eastern Croatia. In the same direction, head length significantly decreased in males and head breadth increased in females. Mediterranean climate was associated with higher and narrower faces in females. The analysis of the particular climatic variables did not reveal a significant influence on body height in either sex. Concurrently, climatic features influenced all craniofacial traits in females and only head length and facial index in males. Mediterranean climate

  3. Trade of parrots in urban areas of Madagascar | Reuter ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    The live capture of parrots is causing increasing concern across Africa. In Madagascar, home to three species of parrot (Coracopsis nigra, C. vasa, Agapornis canus), no study has examined how these species are being extracted from the wild and traded. In this study, we examined the procurement, length of ownership, and ...

  4. 78 FR 39061 - Requested Administrative Waiver of the Coastwise Trade Laws: Vessel MISTRESS MALLIKA; Invitation...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2013-06-28

    ... DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION Maritime Administration [Docket No. MARAD-2013 0076] Requested Administrative Waiver of the Coastwise Trade Laws: Vessel MISTRESS MALLIKA; Invitation for Public Comments AGENCY... MISTRESS MALLIKA is: Intended Commercial Use Of Vessel: ``Pleasure Charters''. Geographic Region: Rhode...

  5. THE USAGE OF E-COMMERCE IN THE AREA OF EVROS, GREECE

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Elpida TENIDOU

    2016-11-01

    Full Text Available The use of technological applications is directly influenced by the perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use of technology according to the Technology Acceptance Model. In e-commerce applications, the ease or not someone understands how the electronic purchase process works can act positively or as a deterrent, to buy or not. Also, someone is positively influenced by the perceived relative advantage when s/he considers the electronic purchase, and negatively by the complexity perceived on the online purchase process. Certainly, the price and quality are still key factors in making purchases, as in traditional commerce. Evros is an area located in an important geographical area in northeast Greece, in the borders with Bulgaria and Turkey. It is a path for the trade among the three countries. In such a new trade area, there are a lot of issues to be addressed with regard to the consumer's purchasing behaviour. For residents of border areas, a lot of factors appear to be involved that may affect the user to carry out or not, an e-commerce purchase. The study aims to empirically investigate how factors such as gender, age, educational level, culture, nationality, Internet access, familiarity with technology, price, ease of purchase, risk, trust and security of the website, design of the site, services it offers, past experience and the name and reputation of the e-shop, affect the consumers, residents of this outermost geographical area. The survey was conducted by interviewing 200 people, residents of Evros. The findings are interesting and show that the factors affecting the purchase are gender, level of education and income. Although, the study suffers from a limitation in that it uses a convenience sampling technique without a fully matched profile of the respondents, it could be a basis of a reliable comparison for future research. The major contribution of this study is that it is the first attempt to investigate the impact of the

  6. Cross-border cattle marketing in Sub-Saharan Africa since 1990: geographical patterns and government induced change

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    L.J. de Haan (Leo); P. Quarles van Ufford (Paul); F. Zaal (fred)

    1999-01-01

    textabstractThis chapter aims to study the impact of government policies on cross-border cattle marketing in Africa. It analyses the extent to which this type of cross-border trade has been created, diverted or contracted as a result of government policies. The chapter portrays the geographical

  7. Trade-facilitated technology spillovers in energy productivity convergence processes across EU countries

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wan, Jun; Baylis, Kathy; Mulder, Peter

    2015-01-01

    This empirical paper tests for trade-facilitated spillovers in the convergence of energy productivity across 16 European Union (EU) countries from 1995 to 2005. One might anticipate that by inducing specialization, trade limits the potential for convergence in energy productivity. Conversely, by inducing competition and knowledge diffusion, trade may spur sectors to greater energy productivity. Unlike most previous work on convergence, we explain productivity dynamics from cross-country interactions at a detailed sector level and apply a spatial panel data approach to explicitly account for trade-flow related spatial effects in the convergence analysis. Our study confirms the existence of convergence in manufacturing energy productivity, caused by efficiency improvements in lagging countries, while undermined by increasing international differences in sector structure. Further, we find that trade flows explain 30 to 40% of the unobserved variation in energy productivity. Trade continues to explain the unobserved variation in energy productivity even after accounting for geographic proximity. Last, we find that those countries and sectors with higher dependence on trade both have higher energy productivity growth and a higher rate of convergence, further implying that trade can enhance energy productivity. Thus, unlike concerns that trade may spur a ‘race to the bottom’, we find that promoting trade may help stimulate energy efficiency improvements across countries. - Highlights: • We test for trade-facilitated spillovers in cross-country energy productivity convergence. • We use a spatial panel-data approach and data for 16 European Union countries. • Efficiency improvements in lagging countries cause energy productivity convergence. • Trade flows explain 30 to 40% of unobserved variation in energy productivity. • Higher dependence on trade means higher rates of energy productivity growth

  8. Building a Collaborative Network for Education and Training in International Trade Facilitation Clusters

    Science.gov (United States)

    Clendenin, John A.; Petrova, Nadya N.; Gill, Joshua K.

    The authors present the benefits of collaboration rather than competition in developing educational and training resources for international trade within a geographic region and explore the challenges for business partners, governments and educational institutions. The paper indicates that flexibility in the 21st Century is critical, particularly when striving for virtual implementations of the solution services. It is essential, say the authors, for educators, governments and business executives to focus on performance and the careful orchestration and integration of business, policy and information technology for “Networking” that successfully stimulates inter-governmental cooperation and innovative policies that foster Regional trade facilitation. An innovative way to enhance 21st Century Trade Facilitation is offered with Supply Chain Centers of Regional Excellence (SCcORE).

  9. COMPETITIVENESS ANALYSIS OF THE REPUBLIC OF MOLDOVA BY MEANS OF EFFICIENCY INDICATORS OF FOREIGN TRADE WITH AGRICULTURAL FOOD PRODUCTS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Boris COREŢCHI

    2014-06-01

    Full Text Available An old traditional form of foreign economic relations is represented by foreign trade. Republic of Moldova,Featuring a geographical position that represents the area of intersection the numerous trade routes and regionalconnotation communications, should use these advantages in order to extend the export-import relations; there for,Republic of Moldova follows to use the internal potential in intensive and effective way. Competitiveness of externaltrade with agricultural food products has a particularly important role which is steadily increasing, it determine theincreasing or decreasing of the national income produced outside depending upon the ratio between the nationaland international amount of goods. Ensuring the economic efficiency of production requires a certain minimumvolume of its. If the volume exceeds the absorption capacity of the internal market, ensuring efficient productionrequires a call to the external market. On the other hand, certain products can not be obtained either domesticproduction or isn’t justified from the economic point of view can be obtained only from the external market.

  10. Study of Social and Cultural Characteristics of Drug Offenders in Ahwaz Municipal Areas Using Geographic Information System (GIS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Somayyeh Fathtabar

    2016-05-01

    Full Text Available Objective: This study examines the social and cultural structure of drug offenses in Ahwaz municipal areas using GIS. Method: The population of the study consisted of drug offenders in Correction and Rehabilitation Center of Ahwaz in 2013. Statistical tests and graphs, including Mean Center test, Standard Deviation Ellipse, Kernel Density Estimation were used in this study. Results: The most important centers of drug crime are in the same border with informal settlement areas, such as Kut Abdullah, Lashkar Abad, and Khashayar (urban areas 5 and 6 of Ahwaz city. In addition, there is a direct relationship between illiteracy rate & population density and crime rate. Discussion and Conclusion: Spatial analysis of geographic crime and punishment can act as a means for security and safety policy making in the fight against drugs.

  11. Development of the OCRWM transportation geographic information system

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Peck, M. III; McGuinn, E.J.; Osborne, J.W.

    1995-01-01

    The U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management (OCRWM) is responsible for disposing of the nation's high-level radioactive waste. Current plans call for OCRWM to ship commercial spent nuclear fuel (SNF) from 77 individual reactor sites to a central facility for disposal. The Transportation Geographic Information System (TGIS) is a valuable tool in planning for the SNF shipments and communicating with the public regarding the shipments. The TGIS consists of a geographic information system (GIS) combined with a set of databases that provide data on specific geographic areas, transportation networks, and point locations. Planning activities may include analyzing possible routing options or criteria, highlighting route-specific attributes such as the location of culturally sensitive areas, providing route-specific data such as accident statistics, determining the affected population density along a route to support risk assessment activities, or providing emergency response information such as responder locations and hospitals along the proposed routes. The TGIS is a useful communication tool in helping to address the public's concern over how the shipments will be managed, particularly in the area of route selection by providing graphic portrayals of potential routes in their true geographic contexts

  12. The determinants of intra-regional trade in the Western Balkans

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jelena Trivić

    2015-06-01

    Full Text Available The purpose of this paper is to identify factors that have an influence on bilateral trade among the Western Balkan countries for the period from 1995 to 2012. Unlike a majority of works that have dealt with the subject of trade in the Balkans or the SEEs, not only geographical, economic or political factors are taken into account, but also factors constituting cultural, communicational and historical types of the so-called “distance” between countries. In order to assess their influence on trade values, an augmented version of the gravity model is employed. It was estimated threefold: as pooled data by OLS, as a random effects model and as a fixed effects model with an additional estimation of time-invariant variables following the method of Cheng and Wall (2005. The results of the research are surprising, as the strongest influence on trade values were exhibited by variables representing ease of a direct communication and similarity of religious structures. In addition, war and one-year-post-war effect showed a strong and statistically important influence. Thus, the main conclusion is that non-economic factors in the region of the Western Balkans play the most important role in determining trade values between countries.

  13. Cross-Border Trade: An Analysis of Trade and Market Integration ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    An assessment of cross-border trade and market integration reveal that inhabitants of the border areas have become economically, socially and politically integrated in spite of the conflict over the Bakassi Peninsula. Based on empirical analysis, bilateral agreements between Nigeria and Cameroon have made negligible ...

  14. The bilateral trade agreements and export performance of South Asian nations with special reference to India Sri Lanka Free Trade Agreement

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Suhail P

    2011-12-01

    Full Text Available The regional trade agreements (RTA have been one of the important developments in the world trading system in 1990s. There are number of studies on the effects trade agreements in different contexts. This study is an attempt to analyse the effects of bilateral trade agreements in the intraregional trade in the SAARC region with special reference to the Free Trade Agreements (FTA between India Sri Lanka. The study uses a panel regression analysis by using balance panel data. The study concludes that the FTA between India and Sri Lanka has brought positive results in the trade between these two nations by improving the bilateral trade in goods. The results of the study are important in the context of looking for the prospects of a free trade area in the region by member nations.

  15. Revenue, welfare and trade effects of European Union Free Trade Agreement on South Africa

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kore M.A. Guei

    2017-10-01

    Full Text Available Background: Using the partial equilibrium WITS-SMART Simulation model to assess the impact of liberalisation under the Trade Development and Cooperation Agreement (TDCA of a free trade area between the European Union and South Africa. The identification of the impact of such agreement allows for trade policy negotiation adjustment that can be beneficial for South Africa. Aim: The aim of the study is to estimate and discuss the impact of a Free Trade Agreement (FTA with the European Union and South Africa. More specifically, the study intends to estimate the impact of revenue, welfare, imports, exports, trade creation and to come up with policies options for South Africa that can be used in negotiations and policy formulations. Setting: The study used international trade data (2012 available in the WITS-SMART model to assess bilateral trade agreement between the European Union and South Africa. Methods: To identify the impact on revenue, welfare, imports, exports and trade creation, the study simulated an FTA (0% tariff rate for all goods exchanged between the European Union and South Africa. Also, the elasticity of substitution used for the simulation model was 99%. Results: The findings of the study reveal that total trade effects in South Africa are likely to surge by US$ 1.036 billion with a total welfare valued at US$ 134 million. Dismantling tariffs on all European Union (EU goods would be beneficial to consumers through net trade creation. Total trade creation would be US$ 782 million. However, South African producers are likely to contribute a trade diversion of US$ 254 million which has a negative impact on consumer welfare. The country might also experience a revenue loss amounting to US$ 562 million because of the removal of tariffs. In trade, the country’s exports and imports to the EU are expected to increase by US$ 12.419 million and US$ 1.266 million, respectively. Conclusion: The European Union–South Africa FTA would

  16. Current and potential trade in horticultural products irradiated for phytosanitary purposes

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bustos-Griffin, Emilia; Hallman, Guy J.; Griffin, Robert L.

    2012-01-01

    The current status of trade in horticultural products irradiated for phytosanitary purposes is examined, including trends, strengths and weaknesses. A strategy is proposed to take advantage of the best future opportunities for increasing trade in irradiated horticultural products by identifying best possibilities for expanding both the number and volume of commodities for irradiation and then applying appropriate business criteria in a general analysis of the commodities, commercial scenarios, and geographic regions where the greatest potential exists for expansion. The results show that fresh fruits such as mango, papaya, citrus, grapes, and vegetables such as tomatoes, onions, asparagus, garlic, and peppers from Asia and the Americas show the greatest potential. Substantial opportunities for additional growth exist, especially as regulatory conditions become more favorable. - Highlights: ► This research examined the trade in horticultural products irradiated for Phytosanitary purposes. ► Paper describes strategies for enhancing trade in irradiated horticultural products. ► Results identify commodities and regions with the greatest potential. ► Additional growth potential exists, especially as regulatory conditions become more favorable.

  17. Pengaruh Asan-free Trade Area Terhadap Pertumbuhan Ekpor Crude Palm Oil Indonesia 2003-2012

    OpenAIRE

    Rani, Faisyal; Febrianti, Ria

    2015-01-01

    International trade that used in traditional and limited, now has progressed veryrapidly. The flow of goods can not be blocked even by doing a free trade agreement.Trade liberalization is intended for all countries in the world, has long been discussed bythe experts of the economy and also the leaders of the countries in the world. Attempts tobring this AFTA born of thinking about how to improve relationships (and also cooperation),especially in the economic field, which is closely among ASEA...

  18. Trading forest carbon

    Science.gov (United States)

    The nature of carbon in forests is discussed from the perspective of carbon trading. Carbon inventories, specifically in the area of land use and forestry are reviewed for the Pacific Northwest. Carbon turnover in forests is discussed as it relates to carbon sequestration. Scient...

  19. 76 FR 79764 - Requested Administrative Waiver of the Coastwise Trade Laws: Vessel DREAM CATCHER; Invitation for...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-12-22

    ... DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION Maritime Administration [Docket No. MARAD-2011-0156] Requested Administrative Waiver of the Coastwise Trade Laws: Vessel DREAM CATCHER; Invitation for Public Comments AGENCY... DREAM CATCHER is: INTENDED COMMERCIAL USE OF VESSEL: ``Passenger charter.'' GEOGRAPHIC REGION: ``Georgia...

  20. 78 FR 19066 - Requested Administrative Waiver of the Coastwise Trade Laws: Vessel MI CASA; Invitation for...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2013-03-28

    ... DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION Maritime Administration [Docket No. MARAD-2013 0035] Requested Administrative Waiver of the Coastwise Trade Laws: Vessel MI CASA; Invitation for Public Comments AGENCY... CASA is: Intended Commercial Use of Vessel: Passenger charters. Geographic Region: Massachusetts, New...

  1. 77 FR 35743 - Requested Administrative Waiver of the Coastwise Trade Laws: Vessel SECOND CHANCE; Invitation for...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2012-06-14

    ... DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION Maritime Administration [Docket No. MARAD 2012 0067] Requested Administrative Waiver of the Coastwise Trade Laws: Vessel SECOND CHANCE; Invitation for Public Comments AGENCY... SECOND CHANCE is: Intended Commercial Use of Vessel: ``Small group charters.'' Geographic Region...

  2. 78 FR 77200 - Requested Administrative Waiver of the Coastwise Trade Laws: Vessel AFFAIR; Invitation for Public...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2013-12-20

    ... DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION Maritime Administration [Docket No. MARAD-2013-0151] Requested Administrative Waiver of the Coastwise Trade Laws: Vessel AFFAIR; Invitation for Public Comments AGENCY: Maritime... AFFAIR is: Intended Commercial Use of Vessel: ``Charter Fishing (sport) & sightseeing tours.'' Geographic...

  3. Soil Survey Geographic (SSURGO) database for Sierra County Area, New Mexico

    Data.gov (United States)

    Earth Data Analysis Center, University of New Mexico — This data set is a digital soil survey and generally is the most detailed level of soil geographic data developed by the National Cooperative Soil Survey. The...

  4. Soil Survey Geographic (SSURGO) database for Mora County Area, New Mexico

    Data.gov (United States)

    Earth Data Analysis Center, University of New Mexico — This data set is a digital soil survey and generally is the most detailed level of soil geographic data developed by the National Cooperative Soil Survey. The...

  5. Soil Survey Geographic (SSURGO) database for Mescalero-Apache Area, New Mexico

    Data.gov (United States)

    Earth Data Analysis Center, University of New Mexico — This data set is a digital soil survey and generally is the most detailed level of soil geographic data developed by the National Cooperative Soil Survey. The...

  6. Soil Survey Geographic (SSURGO) database for Lincoln County Area, New Mexico

    Data.gov (United States)

    Earth Data Analysis Center, University of New Mexico — This data set is a digital soil survey and generally is the most detailed level of soil geographic data developed by the National Cooperative Soil Survey. The...

  7. Soil Survey Geographic (SSURGO) database for Socorro County Area, New Mexico

    Data.gov (United States)

    Earth Data Analysis Center, University of New Mexico — This data set is a digital soil survey and generally is the most detailed level of soil geographic data developed by the National Cooperative Soil Survey. The...

  8. 78 FR 8698 - Requested Administrative Waiver of the Coastwise Trade Laws: Vessel COOL BEANS; Invitation for...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2013-02-06

    ... DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION Maritime Administration [Docket No. MARAD-2013 0005] Requested Administrative Waiver of the Coastwise Trade Laws: Vessel COOL BEANS; Invitation for Public Comments AGENCY... BEANS is: Intended Commercial Use of Vessel: Sightseeing and sunset cruises. Geographic Region: Florida...

  9. 76 FR 67253 - Requested Administrative Waiver of the Coastwise Trade Laws: Vessel THE GIFT; Invitation for...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-10-31

    ... DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION Maritime Administration [Docket No. MARAD 2011 0131] Requested Administrative Waiver of the Coastwise Trade Laws: Vessel THE GIFT; Invitation for Public Comments AGENCY... GIFT is: INTENDED COMMERCIAL USE OF VESSEL: ``Passenger carrying.'' GEOGRAPHIC REGION: ``ME, NH, MA, RI...

  10. 76 FR 70216 - Requested Administrative Waiver of the Coastwise Trade Laws; Vessel REEL ATTITUDE; Invitation for...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-11-10

    ... DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION Maritime Administration [Docket No. MARAD-2011 0146] Requested Administrative Waiver of the Coastwise Trade Laws; Vessel REEL ATTITUDE; Invitation for Public Comments AGENCY... ATTITUDE is: Intended Commercial Use of Vessel: ``Fishing Charter passenger less than 6.'' Geographic...

  11. A Network of Networks Perspective on Global Trade.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Maluck, Julian; Donner, Reik V

    2015-01-01

    Mutually intertwined supply chains in contemporary economy result in a complex network of trade relationships with a highly non-trivial topology that varies with time. In order to understand the complex interrelationships among different countries and economic sectors, as well as their dynamics, a holistic view on the underlying structural properties of this network is necessary. This study employs multi-regional input-output data to decompose 186 national economies into 26 industry sectors and utilizes the approach of interdependent networks to analyze the substructure of the resulting international trade network for the years 1990-2011. The partition of the network into national economies is observed to be compatible with the notion of communities in the sense of complex network theory. By studying internal versus cross-subgraph contributions to established complex network metrics, new insights into the architecture of global trade are obtained, which allow to identify key elements of global economy. Specifically, financial services and business activities dominate domestic trade whereas electrical and machinery industries dominate foreign trade. In order to further specify each national sector's role individually, (cross-)clustering coefficients and cross-betweenness are obtained for different pairs of subgraphs. The corresponding analysis reveals that specific industrial sectors tend to favor distinct directionality patterns and that the cross-clustering coefficient for geographically close country pairs is remarkably high, indicating that spatial factors are still of paramount importance for the organization of trade patterns in modern economy. Regarding the evolution of the trade network's substructure, globalization is well-expressed by trends of several structural characteristics (e.g., link density and node strength) in the interacting network framework. Extreme events, such as the financial crisis 2008/2009, are manifested as anomalies superimposed to

  12. A Network of Networks Perspective on Global Trade

    Science.gov (United States)

    Maluck, Julian; Donner, Reik V.

    2015-01-01

    Mutually intertwined supply chains in contemporary economy result in a complex network of trade relationships with a highly non-trivial topology that varies with time. In order to understand the complex interrelationships among different countries and economic sectors, as well as their dynamics, a holistic view on the underlying structural properties of this network is necessary. This study employs multi-regional input-output data to decompose 186 national economies into 26 industry sectors and utilizes the approach of interdependent networks to analyze the substructure of the resulting international trade network for the years 1990–2011. The partition of the network into national economies is observed to be compatible with the notion of communities in the sense of complex network theory. By studying internal versus cross-subgraph contributions to established complex network metrics, new insights into the architecture of global trade are obtained, which allow to identify key elements of global economy. Specifically, financial services and business activities dominate domestic trade whereas electrical and machinery industries dominate foreign trade. In order to further specify each national sector’s role individually, (cross-)clustering coefficients and cross-betweenness are obtained for different pairs of subgraphs. The corresponding analysis reveals that specific industrial sectors tend to favor distinct directionality patterns and that the cross-clustering coefficient for geographically close country pairs is remarkably high, indicating that spatial factors are still of paramount importance for the organization of trade patterns in modern economy. Regarding the evolution of the trade network’s substructure, globalization is well-expressed by trends of several structural characteristics (e.g., link density and node strength) in the interacting network framework. Extreme events, such as the financial crisis 2008/2009, are manifested as anomalies superimposed

  13. Deepening the economic integration in the Eastern Partnership: from a Free Trade Area to a Neighbourhood Economic Community?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gabriela DRĂGAN

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available Different forms of cooperation and regional integration, implying specific institutional agreements and instruments, have been developed in the last decades in the EU neighbourhood. The offer provided by the Eastern Partnership (EaP, which includes both economic and political objectives, has not proven attractive enough for the Eastern Neighbourhood. The region is currently divided between two global powers (EU and Russia and two competing regional integration areas, the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area and the Eurasian Single Economic Space. The paper focuses on the main limits of the economic tools included in the EU’s current offer and proposes several directions for EaP’s reform.

  14. The Current Status and Prospects for Development of International Trade in Goods

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kovtun Tamara D.

    2018-03-01

    Full Text Available The article is aimed at analyzing the current status and determining prospects for international trade in goods. The dynamics of international trade in goods are characterized and the reasons for its slowdown are disclosed. A considerable attention is paid to the analysis of the commodity and geographical structure of the international trade in goods. On the basis of the conducted research the new tendencies and peculiarities of development of the international trade in goods in the contemporary conditions are disclosed. In particular, the authors consider the tendency of increasing the influence of non-tariff barriers on the dynamics of the international commodity exchange. Based on the calculation of the export quota as an indicator of the intensity of foreign trade in goods, conclusions have been drawn about the degree of openness of national economies in the current conditions. The authors have noted that in the coming years the growth of physical and value volumes of the world commodity exports is projected in the conditions of growth of the world prices for raw products. It has been determined that, most likely, further development of the international trade in goods will take place in conditions of deepening of trade integration at the mega-regional level. An increase in the number of participants in the international trade in goods is also expected in the context of further spread of e-commerce in the developing countries.

  15. Geographic variation in species richness, rarity, and the selection of areas for conservation: An integrative approach with Brazilian estuarine fishes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vilar, Ciro C.; Joyeux, Jean-Christophe; Spach, Henry L.

    2017-09-01

    While the number of species is a key indicator of ecological assemblages, spatial conservation priorities solely identified from species richness are not necessarily efficient to protect other important biological assets. Hence, the results of spatial prioritization analysis would be greatly enhanced if richness were used in association to complementary biodiversity measures. In this study, geographic patterns in estuarine fish species rarity (i.e. the average range size in the study area), endemism and richness, were mapped and integrated to identify regions important for biodiversity conservation along the Brazilian coast. Furthermore, we analyzed the effectiveness of the national system of protected areas to represent these regions. Analyses were performed on presence/absence data of 412 fish species in 0.25° latitudinal bands covering the entire Brazilian biogeographical province. Species richness, rarity and endemism patterns differed and strongly reflected biogeographical limits and regions. However, among the existing 154 latitudinal bands, 48 were recognized as conservation priorities by concomitantly harboring high estuarine fish species richness and assemblages of geographically rare species. Priority areas identified for all estuarine fish species largely differed from those identified for Brazilian endemics. Moreover, there was no significant correlation between the different aspects of the fish assemblages considered (i.e. species richness, endemism or rarity), suggesting that designating reserves based on a single variable may lead to large gaps in the overall protection of biodiversity. Our results further revealed that the existing system of protected areas is insufficient for representing the priority bands we identified. This highlights the urgent need for expanding the national network of protected areas to maintain estuarine ecosystems with high conservation value.

  16. GIDEON: a comprehensive Web-based resource for geographic medicine

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Berger Stephen A

    2005-04-01

    Full Text Available Abstract GIDEON (Global Infectious Diseases and Epidemiology Network is a web-based computer program designed for decision support and informatics in the field of Geographic Medicine. The first of four interactive modules generates a ranked differential diagnosis based on patient signs, symptoms, exposure history and country of disease acquisition. Additional options include syndromic disease surveillance capability and simulation of bioterrorism scenarios. The second module accesses detailed and current information regarding the status of 338 individual diseases in each of 220 countries. Over 50,000 disease images, maps and user-designed graphs may be downloaded for use in teaching and preparation of written materials. The third module is a comprehensive source on the use of 328 anti-infective drugs and vaccines, including a listing of over 9,500 international trade names. The fourth module can be used to characterize or identify any bacterium or yeast, based on laboratory phenotype. GIDEON is an up-to-date and comprehensive resource for Geographic Medicine.

  17. Interoperability of Geographic Information: A Communication Process –Based Prototype

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jean Brodeur

    2005-04-01

    Full Text Available Since 1990, municipal, state/provincial, and federal governments have developed numerous geographic databases over the years to fulfill organizations' specific needs. As such, same real world topographic phenomena have been abstracted differently, for instance vegetation (surface, trees (surface, wooded area (line, wooded area (point and line, milieu boisé (surface, zone boisée (unknown geometry. Today, information about these geographic phenomena is accessible on the Internet from Web infrastructures specially developed to simplify their access. Early in the nineties, the development of interoperability of geographic information has been undertaken to solve syntactic, structural, and semantic heterogeneities as well as spatial and temporal heterogeneities to facilitate sharing and integration of such data. Recently, we have proposed a new conceptual framework for interoperability of geographic information based on the human communication process, cognitive science, and ontology, and introduced geosemantic proximity, a reasoning methodology to qualify dynamically the semantic similarity between geographic abstractions. This framework could be of interest to other disciplines. This paper presents the details of our framework for interoperability of geographic information as well as a prototype.

  18. Kebijakan Pemerintah Bhutan Dalam Pemberdayaan Sektor Pariwisata Untuk Memasuki Safta (South Asian Free Trade Area) Tahun 2002-2007

    OpenAIRE

    Azela, Rizki; ", Pazli

    2014-01-01

    This research describes the Government Policies In Empowerment Bhutan TourismSector to Enter SAFTA (South Asian Free Trade Area) 2002-2007. Bhutan's tourism industrybegan in 1974 It was introduced with the main objective to increase revenue, especiallyforeign exchange and publish unique culture and traditions of the country to the outsideworld, and contribute to socio-economic development of the country. In the tourism sector,tourism policy of Bhutan also developed in accordance with the prin...

  19. International trade disputes in modern regulatory paradigm

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tamara Gordeeva

    2013-09-01

    Full Text Available This article studies the latest trends observed in the area of contradictory relations between countries with regard to international trade, which cause changes in the paradigm of international trade disputes. It has been found out that any state of inconsistent relations between the countries is recently characterized as a «trade war». It has been analyzed the notions of «dispute», «conflict», «war» according to international regulatory documents and determined the applicability of these terms depending on a number of criteria. It has been studied the evolution of the objects of international trade disputes since the time of ancient Greece until today, and new trends based on this have been revealed with regard to use of trade policy instruments that cause disputes between countries. Several specific examples of international trade disputes and causes of their occurrence have been considered. A quantitative analysis of international trade disputes in general and in relations between the leading countries in terms of a number of the trade disputes in which they were involved has been performed.

  20. Contextualizing Embodied Resources in Global Food Trade

    Science.gov (United States)

    MacDonald, G. K.; Brauman, K. A.; Sun, S.; West, P. C.; Carlson, K. M.; Cassidy, E. S.; Gerber, J. S.; Ray, D. K.

    2014-12-01

    Trade in agricultural commodities has created increasingly complex linkages between resource use and food supplies across national borders. Understanding the degree to which food production and consumption relies on trade is vital to understanding how to sustainably meet growing food demands across scales. We use detailed bilateral trade statistics and data on agricultural management to examine the land use and water consumption embodied in agricultural trade, which we relate to basic nutritional indicators to show how trade contributes to food availability worldwide. Agricultural trade carries enough calories to provide >1.7 billion people a basic diet each year. We identify key commodities and producer-consumer relationships that disproportionately contribute to embodied resource use and flows of food nutrition at the global scale. For example, just 15 disproportionately large soybean trades comprised ~10% the total harvested area embodied in export production. We conclude by framing these results in terms of the fraction of each country's food production and consumption that is linked to international trade. These findings help to characterize how countries allocate resources to domestic versus foreign food demand.

  1. Geographical Simulation and Optimization System (GeoSOS and Its Application in the Analysis of Geographic National Conditions

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    LI Xia

    2017-10-01

    Full Text Available Since the Chinese first survey on geographic national conditions has completed, an urgent need is to analyze these geographical data, such as mining of spatial distribution patterns, land use transition rules, development trends. The analysis is crucial for extracting the knowledge from these big data about geographic national conditions. The remote sensing interpretation data and land use/cover data generated by these geographic national conditions monitoring projects are the basic data sources for a variety of research and applications in terms of land use change detection, urban dynamic analysis, and urban/land use planning. The information can be used for assisting in the coordination of land resource use and decision making for urban and rural development, ecological environment protection and other issues that depends on spatial intelligent decisions. We proposed the theoretical framework of geographical simulation and optimization system (GeoSOS, which coupled geographic process simulation/prediction and spatial optimization, provides powerful theoretical support and practical tools for above researches. This paper develops the extension of GeoSOS software-GeoSOS for ArcGIS, which is an ArcGIS Add-In runs on ArcGIS platform for facilitating the above analyses. We take the urban expansion and ecological protection research in rapid urbanization area as an example, use the software to tackle a series of urbanization issues in the study area. The simulation results show that the predicted land development intensity of Guangdong Province will exceed the constraint index in 2020 according to the national development plan. However, the urbanization expansion based on the constraints of land development intensity and ecological protection can satisfy these constraints, and obtain a more compact landscape pattern. The analysis has shown that GeoSOS can be a useful tool for assisting in the analysis of geographic national conditions information

  2. Department of Trade annual report 1983-84. [Australia

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    1984-01-01

    The Department of Trade was created on 11 March 1983. It is responsible for the administration of the Government's policies as they relate to international trade, the promotion of Australia's exports and the Australian Trade Commissioner Service. The Department's activities for the financial year 1983/84 are documented in this report. Areas documented are corporate strategy, execution of corporate strategy, management, information services, finance and staffing, Acts administered by the Minister, functions and membership of councils and committees, international trade meetings attended by departmental representatives, departmental publications, and national export award winners.

  3. Configuración actual del comercio exterior en Galicia = Current foreign trade framework in Galicia

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    José Luis Placer Galán

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available La reciente crisis económica y la contracción de la demanda interna han impulsado un creciente interés por los mercados exteriores. Esta investigación pretende caracterizar la configuración actual del comercio exterior de la Comunidad Autónoma de Galicia, tanto en lo relativo a los productos como a los mercados geográficos de origen y destino. Para ello se emplean una serie de indicadores, ampliamente contrastados en la investigación económica, que permiten identificar: el grado de apertura de la economía provincial leonesa; la propensión exportadora y la dependencia importadora; el grado de concentración, por producto y mercados, de sus flujos comerciales exteriores; la especialización exportadora y la ventaja comparativa sectorial; la composición inter o intra-industrial del comercio exterior; y la distribución geográfica de los flujos comerciales de la economía gallega con los mercados exteriores. The recent economic crisis and internal demand contraction have encouraged the emerging interest in international markets. This study aims at featuring the current foreign trade framework of the Galicia, in regards to both import and export products and geographical markets. For that purpose, several indexes, widely verified in this study, have been utilized to identify the trade openness level of Leon economy, its export propensity, import dependence as well as the concentration level for products and internal trade flows. Leon export specialization, its comparative advantage by sector, the inter-intra-industry trade composition and geographical distribution of trade with international markets have been likewise included in this study.   Keywords: .

  4. Anonymous electronic trading versus floor trading

    OpenAIRE

    Franke, Günter; Hess, Dieter

    1995-01-01

    This paper compares the attractiveness of floor trading and anonymous electronic trading systems. It is argued that in times of low information intensity the insight into the order book of the electronic trading system provides more valuable information than floor trading, but in times of high information intensity the reverse is true. Thus, the electronic system's market share in trading activity should decline in times of high information intensity. This hypothesis is tested by data on BUND...

  5. Molecular tracing of confiscated pangolin scales for conservation and illegal trade monitoring in Southeast Asia

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Huarong; Miller, Mark P.; Yang, Feng; Chan, Hon Ki; Gaubert, Philippe; Ades, Gary; Fischer, Gunter A

    2015-01-01

    Despite being protected by both international and national regulations, pangolins are threatened by illegal trade. Here we report mitochondrial DNA identification and haplotype richness estimation, using 239 pangolin scale samples from two confiscations in Hong Kong. We found a total of 13 genetically distinct cytochrome c oxidase I (COI) haplotypes in two confiscations (13 and ten haplotypes respectively, with ten shared haplotypes between confiscations). These haplotypes clustered in two distinct clades with one clade representing the Sunda pangolin (Manisjavanica). The other clade did not match with any known Asian pangolin sequences, and likely represented a cryptic pangolin lineage in Asia. By fitting sample coverage and rarefaction/regression models to our sample data, we predicted that the total number of COI haplotypes in two confiscations were 14.86 and 11.06 respectively, suggesting that our sampling caught the majority of haplotypes and that we had adequately characterized each confiscation. We detected substantial sequence divergence among the seized scales, likely evidencing that the Sunda pangolins were harvested over wide geographical areas across Southeast Asia. Our study illustrates the value of applying DNA forensics for illegal wildlife trade monitoring.

  6. Molecular tracing of confiscated pangolin scales for conservation and illegal trade monitoring in Southeast Asia

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Huarong Zhang

    2015-07-01

    Full Text Available Despite being protected by both international and national regulations, pangolins are threatened by illegal trade. Here we report mitochondrial DNA identification and haplotype richness estimation, using 239 pangolin scale samples from two confiscations in Hong Kong. We found a total of 13 genetically distinct cytochrome c oxidase I (COI haplotypes in two confiscations (13 and ten haplotypes respectively, with ten shared haplotypes between confiscations. These haplotypes clustered in two distinct clades with one clade representing the Sunda pangolin (Manisjavanica. The other clade did not match with any known Asian pangolin sequences, and likely represented a cryptic pangolin lineage in Asia. By fitting sample coverage and rarefaction/regression models to our sample data, we predicted that the total number of COI haplotypes in two confiscations were 14.86 and 11.06 respectively, suggesting that our sampling caught the majority of haplotypes and that we had adequately characterized each confiscation. We detected substantial sequence divergence among the seized scales, likely evidencing that the Sunda pangolins were harvested over wide geographical areas across Southeast Asia. Our study illustrates the value of applying DNA forensics for illegal wildlife trade monitoring.

  7. GENETICALLY MODIFIED CROPS: INTERNATIONAL TRADE AND TRADE POLICY EFFECTS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    George Frisvold

    2015-04-01

    Full Text Available Where approved, producers have adopted genetically modified (GM crops extensively. Yet, areas not adopting GM crops account for large shares of production and consumption. GM crops differ from previous agricultural innovations because consumers may perceive them as fundamentally different from (and potentially inferior to conventionally grown crops. Many countries maintain restrictions on production and importation of GM crops. GM crop adoption affects producers and consumers, not only through technological change, but also through trade policy responses. This article reviews open economy analyses of impacts of GM crops. To varying degrees, commodities are segmented into GM, conventionally grown, and organic product markets. Recent advances in trade modeling consider the consequences of market segmentation, along with consequences of GM crop import restrictions, product segregation requirements, and coexistence policies.

  8. 77 FR 5628 - Requested Administrative Waiver of the Coastwise Trade Laws: Vessel BIG GAME; Invitation for...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2012-02-03

    ... Administrative Waiver of the Coastwise Trade Laws: Vessel BIG GAME; Invitation for Public Comments AGENCY....gov . SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: As described by the applicant the intended service of the vessel BIG GAME is: Intended Commercial Use of Vessel: ``Fishing charter boat.'' Geographic Region: ``Rhode Island...

  9. The trend toward free trade areas: economic consequences and policy implications for the United States

    OpenAIRE

    All, William H., IV

    1992-01-01

    Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited Because America's economy relies to a significant degree on export markets and external sources of raw materials, the health of the international trading system is critical to the national security of the United States. This thesis demonstrates that the organization on which America has relied for the management of the international trading system since the 1950s, the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), is failing to effect...

  10. Trade in and Valuation of Virtual Water Impacts in a City: A Case Study Of Flagstaff, Arizona

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rushforth, R.; Ruddell, B. L.

    2013-12-01

    An increasingly intense component of the global coupled natural and human system (CNH) is the economic trade of various types of resources and the outsourcing of resource impacts between geographically distant economic systems. The human economy's trade arrangements allow specific localities, especially cities, to exceed spatially local resource stock sustainability and footprint constraints, as evidenced in the urban metabolism literature. Each movement or trade of a resource along a network is associated with an embedded or 'virtual' exchange of indirect impacts on the inputs to the production process. The networked trade of embedded resources, therefore, is an essential human adaptation to resource limitations. Using the Embedded Resource Impact Accounting (ERA) framework, we examine the network of embedded water flows created through the trade of goods and services and economic development in Flagstaff, Arizona, and associate these flows with the creation of value in sectors of the economy

  11. Implementing a geographical information system to assess endemic fluoride areas in Lamphun, Thailand.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Theerawasttanasiri, Nonthaphat; Taneepanichskul, Surasak; Pingchai, Wichain; Nimchareon, Yuwaree; Sriwichai, Sangworn

    2018-01-01

    Many studies have shown that fluoride can cross the placenta and that exposure to high fluoride during pregnancy may result in premature birth and/or a low birth weight. Lamphun is one of six provinces in Thailand where natural water fluoride (WF) concentrations >10.0 mg/L were found, and it was also found that >50% of households used water with high fluoride levels. Nevertheless, geographical information system (GIS) and maps of endemic fluoride areas are lacking. We aimed to measure the fluoride level of village water supplies to assess endemic fluoride areas and present GIS with maps in Google Maps. A cross-sectional survey was conducted from July 2016 to January 2017. Purpose sampling was used to identify villages of districts with WF >10.0 mg/L in the Mueang Lamphun, Pasang, and Ban Thi districts. Water samples were collected with the geolocation measured by Smart System Info. Fluoride was analyzed with an ion-selective electrode instrument using a total ionic strength adjustment buffer. WF >0.70 mg/L was used to identify unsafe drinking water and areas with high endemic fluoride levels. Descriptive statistics were used to describe the findings, and MS Excel was used to create the GIS database. Maps were created in Google Earth and presented in Google Maps. We found that WF concentrations ranged between 0.10-13.60 mg/L. Forty-four percent (n=439) of samples were at unsafe levels (>0.70 mg/L), and. 54% (n=303) of villages and 46% (n=79,807) of households used the unsafe drinking water. Fifty percent (n=26) of subdistricts were classified as being endemic fluoride areas. Five subdistricts were endemic fluoride areas, and in those, there were two subdistricts in which every household used unsafe drinking water. These findings show the distribution of endemic fluoride areas and unsafe drinking water in Lamphun. This is useful for health policy authorities, local governments, and villagers and enables collaboration to resolve these issues. The GIS data are

  12. VT ZIP Code Areas

    Data.gov (United States)

    Vermont Center for Geographic Information — (Link to Metadata) A ZIP Code Tabulation Area (ZCTA) is a statistical geographic entity that approximates the delivery area for a U.S. Postal Service five-digit...

  13. Rethinking Trade-Driven Extinction Risk in Marine and Terrestrial Megafauna.

    Science.gov (United States)

    McClenachan, Loren; Cooper, Andrew B; Dulvy, Nicholas K

    2016-06-20

    Large animals hunted for the high value of their parts (e.g., elephant ivory and shark fins) are at risk of extinction due to both intensive international trade pressure and intrinsic biological sensitivity. However, the relative role of trade, particularly in non-perishable products, and biological factors in driving extinction risk is not well understood [1-4]. Here we identify a taxonomically diverse group of >100 marine and terrestrial megafauna targeted for international luxury markets; estimate their value across three points of sale; test relationships among extinction risk, high value, and body size; and quantify the effects of two mitigating factors: poaching fines and geographic range size. We find that body size is the principal driver of risk for lower value species, but that this biological pattern is eliminated above a value threshold, meaning that the most valuable species face a high extinction risk regardless of size. For example, once mean product values exceed US$12,557 kg(-1), body size no longer drives risk. Total value scales with size for marine animals more strongly than for terrestrial animals, incentivizing the hunting of large marine individuals and species. Poaching fines currently have little effect on extinction risk; fines would need to be increased 10- to 100-fold to be effective. Large geographic ranges reduce risk for terrestrial, but not marine, species, whose ranges are ten times greater. Our results underscore both the evolutionary and ecosystem consequences of targeting large marine animals and the need to geographically scale up and prioritize conservation of high-value marine species to avoid extinction. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  14. Mapping the Teaching of Laboratory Animal Science and Medicine in the European Union and European Free Trade Area.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Iatridou, Despoina; Nagy, Zsuzsanna; De Briyne, Nancy; Saunders, Jimmy; Bravo, Ana

    2018-06-13

    Developing a common market and allowing free movement of goods, services, and people is one of the main objectives of the European Union (EU) and the European Free Trade Area. In the field of scientific research, Directive 2010/63/EU on the protection of animals used for scientific purposes aims to improve the welfare of laboratory animals by following the principle of the 3Rs (replacement, reduction, and refinement). Each breeder, supplier, and user must appoint a designated veterinarian to advise on the well-being and treatment of the animals. In our report we investigate how the undergraduate veterinary curriculum prepares future veterinarians for the role of designated veterinarian, by analyzing data from 77 European veterinary education establishments. Over 80% of them provide training in laboratory animal science and medicine in their curriculum. All countries in the EU and the European Free Trade Area, having national veterinary schools, include such training in the curriculum of at least one of their establishments. Laboratory animal science and medicine courses can be obligatory or elective and are often part of more than one subject in the veterinary curricula. Post-graduate courses or programs are available at more than 50% of those veterinary schools. Most authorities in the European region consider graduate veterinarians ready to seek the role as designated veterinarian immediately after graduation.

  15. Ensuring economic, health, and social well-being for Papua New Guinea through trade.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fa'alili-Fidow, Jacinta

    2011-01-01

    The impacts of trade liberalization and open markets on global, regional, and local economies are a key consideration for those involved in government, business, and financial sectors. However, their impacts on health and social well-being of populations are not well-evidenced acknowledged within the health sector, let alone the impact on developing countries. As free trade becomes an inevitable outcome for many developing nations, the full implications of trade on economies, environments, and population health needs to be better articulated in order to ensure fully informed trade negotiations that support equitable outcomes. This article takes a broad look at the key issues for Papua New Guinea (PNG) in trade and how these translate to discrepancies in economic, health, and social benefits for its population. Despite its active trading and high GDP, only 10% of the population experience better economic and social outcomes. The bulk of PNG's population lives in poverty, challenged by geographical, cultural, and political barriers to better income, education, and health. Progress needs to be made to minimize these barriers and to allow more of PNG's population to experience the economic benefits generated through trade activities. A balance needs to be maintained between the desire of developed countries to broaden their markets, and the efforts of developing countries to promote and protect the health and well-being of their populations through increasing participation in global markets. PACER Plus presents an opportunity for pursuing alternative models of trade agreements that support and develop Pacific health.

  16. Review of inter-utility trade in electricity: Analyses of submissions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1994-04-01

    In November 1992, Canada's National Energy Board released two discussion papers describing its review of inter-utility trade in electricity. The review was undertaken to report on measures that could be taken to enhance interprovincial trade in electricity by encouraging greater cooperation among utilities in systems planning and development, and by enabling buyers and sellers of electricity to obtain commercial access to available transmission capacity through intermediate provinces for wheeling purposes. Interested parties were invited to comment on the papers and 42 responses were received from Canadian utilities, provincial governments, regulatory agencies, and others. These responses are summarized and analyzed, providing an indication of how future policy initiatives on electricity trade might be received. Most submitters agreed that there is a need to enable commercial access to available transmission capacity through intermediate provinces for wheeling purposes. Of the seven options described in the discussion papers that would enable buyers and sellers of electricity to gain commercial access to transmission grids, the status quo was preferred by those utilities and provinces that have direct access to export markets by virtue of their geographic location. Those utilities and provinces that do not have such direct access tend to support, as a last resort, mandated solutions to disputes concerning electricity trade. 78 figs

  17. Trade and the Development of the Pacific Alliance

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    José Armando Hernández Bernal

    2015-11-01

    Full Text Available The Pacific Alliance is a process of deep integration among Colombia, Chile, Peru and Mexico, which aims to build a free trade area and to project into the Asia-Pacific region, in order to enhance existing trade agreements among the members. There is no deep trade relationships among these four countries, despite having regional agreements since the 1990s, as demonstrated by the low volume of reciprocal exports and imports, in addition to the low indicator of intra-industrial trade. In this paper, intra-regional trade index is calculated among the countries of the Pacific Alliance, evidencing low indicators, but with a growth, encouraged by reciprocal or unilateral policies of commercial opening, and by an environment favoring economic growth throughout the region.

  18. Ecological study and risk mapping of leishmaniasis in an endemic area of Brazil based on a geographical information systems approach

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Alba Valéria Machado da Silva

    2011-11-01

    Full Text Available Visceral leishmaniasis is a vector-borne disease highly influenced by eco-epidemiological factors. Geographical information systems (GIS have proved to be a suitable approach for the analysis of environmental components that affect the spatial distribution of diseases. Exploiting this methodology, a model was developed for the mapping of the distribution and incidence of canine leishmaniasis in an endemic area of Brazil. Local variations were observed with respect to infection incidence and distribution of serological titers, i.e. high titers were noted close to areas with preserved vegetation, while low titers were more frequent in areas where people kept chickens. Based on these results, we conclude that the environment plays an important role in generating relatively protected areas within larger endemic regions, but that it can also contribute to the creation of hotspots with clusters of comparatively high serological titers indicating a high level of transmission compared with neighbouring areas.

  19. Trading volume and the number of trades

    OpenAIRE

    Marwan Izzeldin

    2007-01-01

    Trading volume and the number of trades are both used as proxies for market activity, with disagreement as to which is the better proxy for market activity. This paper investigates this issue using high frequency data for Cisco and Intel in 1997. A number of econometric methods are used, including GARCH augmented with lagged trading volume and number of trades, tests based on moment restrictions, regression analysis of volatility on volume and trades, normality of returns when standardized by...

  20. TERMS OF TRADE EVOLUTION, CAUSES AND EFFECTS: CASE STUDY ROMANIA

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Negrea Adrian

    2014-12-01

    Full Text Available Terms of trade are meant to show the ratio by which a country is different in the level and dynamics of revenues from the exchange made by different categories of products on the external markets. The level of recorded revenues from the commercialization of products and services varies from country to country, and there is rarely a mutually beneficial exchange situation from these operations. Trade efficiency analysis lies in the determination of the terms of trade. In the current paper, international developments are analyzed based on net terms of trade index used by UNCTAD. Statistical data are provided by the World Bank, where export and import price index and the volume of imports and exports by countries were considered. The classification of the countries has been done according to the geographical orientation and based on the purchasing power parity, thus creating two tables, the first table highlighting seven regions, and the second table with seven categories of states including OPEC and non-OPEC members. The terms of trade evolution are influenced by certain important factors in the production process of goods and services. Some of these factors are mentioned: labour productivity; changes in commodity prices; yet, only the last factor is examined in this paper. Based on World Bank commodity price data, the evolution of major energy inputs such as crude oil, gas, coal, and major industrial raw materials such as aluminium, copper, lead, nickel, tin, zinc, silver, gold, platinum and iron was analysed and interpreted. For Romania, the data on terms of trade evolution shows a dramatic situation. If terms of trade development presented a cyclical evolution, the economy as a whole would send an optimistic message. In contrast, the data presented in the following paper will show that our country has registered continuous depreciation of the terms of trade ratio, with a direct impact on external trade balance deficits, a rising external debt

  1. Regional Trade Agreement and Agricultural Trade in East African ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Intra-EAC trade is very low, that is, at 9 per cent of the total regional trade, but it is on upward trend. Agricultural trade accounts for over 40 per cent of the intra-EAC trade. This study investigated the effect of EAC regional trade agreement on the regions agricultural trade by analyzing the degree of trade creation and ...

  2. Trade creation and trade diversion in the Canada - United States Free Trade Agreement

    OpenAIRE

    Kimberly A. Clausing

    2001-01-01

    In this paper the changes in trade patterns introduced by the Canada-United States Free Trade Agreement are examined. Variation in the extent of tariff liberalization under the agreement is used to identify the impact of tariff liberalization on the growth of trade both with member countries and non-member countries. Data at the commodity level are used, and the results indicate that the Canada-United States Free Trade Agreement had substantial trade creation effects, with little evidence of ...

  3. Soil Survey Geographic (SSURGO) database for San Miguel County Area, New Mexico

    Data.gov (United States)

    Earth Data Analysis Center, University of New Mexico — This data set is a digital soil survey and generally is the most detailed level of soil geographic data developed by the National Cooperative Soil Survey. The...

  4. Soil Survey Geographic (SSURGO) database for Santa Fe County, Area New Mexico

    Data.gov (United States)

    Earth Data Analysis Center, University of New Mexico — This data set is a digital soil survey and generally is the most detailed level of soil geographic data developed by the National Cooperative Soil Survey. The...

  5. Soil Survey Geographic (SSURGO) database for De Baca County Area, New Mexico

    Data.gov (United States)

    Earth Data Analysis Center, University of New Mexico — This data set is a digital soil survey and generally is the most detailed level of soil geographic data developed by the National Cooperative Soil Survey. The...

  6. Soil Survey Geographic (SSURGO) database for McKinley County Area, New Mexico

    Data.gov (United States)

    Earth Data Analysis Center, University of New Mexico — This data set is a digital soil survey and generally is the most detailed level of soil geographic data developed by the National Cooperative Soil Survey. The...

  7. Soil Survey Geographic (SSURGO) database for Dona Ana County Area, New Mexico

    Data.gov (United States)

    Earth Data Analysis Center, University of New Mexico — This data set is a digital soil survey and generally is the most detailed level of soil geographic data developed by the National Cooperative Soil Survey. The...

  8. 78 FR 35093 - Requested Administrative Waiver of the Coastwise Trade Laws: Vessel EYE DOC; Invitation for...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2013-06-11

    ... Administrative Waiver of the Coastwise Trade Laws: Vessel EYE DOC; Invitation for Public Comments AGENCY... DOC is: INTENDED COMMERCIAL USE OF VESSEL: ``Charter fishing on Lake Erie'' GEOGRAPHIC REGION: ``Ohio..., Maritime Administration. [FR Doc. 2013-13836 Filed 6-10-13; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 4910-81-P ...

  9. 78 FR 40265 - Requested Administrative Waiver of the Coastwise Trade Laws: Vessel HMS-DISCOVERY; Invitation for...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2013-07-03

    ... Administrative Waiver of the Coastwise Trade Laws: Vessel HMS-DISCOVERY; Invitation for Public Comments AGENCY... of the vessel HMS-DISCOVERY is: Intended Commercial Use of Vessel: ``Sight Seeing Tours''. Geographic... regulations at 46 CFR Part 388. Privacy Act Anyone is able to search the electronic form of all comments...

  10. Trade across frontiers: an overview of International trade before the advent of modern economic system in Nigeria

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Aboyade Sunday Ariyo

    2015-03-01

    Full Text Available El área ahora designadaNigeria tiene una larga historia de las comunidades de comercio a través de las fronteras con las tierras vecinas y distantes mucho antes de la llegada de los europeos y la introducción de los modernos sistema de comercio internacional. Las diversas organizaciones políticas que surgieron y que controlan diferentes partes de la zona participa-ron y se beneficiaron de manera efectiva del comercio de larga distancia, lo que les dio la oportunidad de intercambiar sus excedentes por lo que les faltaba, pero que estaba disponible en otros lugares, lejos o cerca. Con referencia a la naturaleza del medio ambiente de Nigeria, la especialización regional, las relaciones de comercio exterior y la capacidad de la economía tradicional, este trabajo examina el comercio internacional de la Nigeria precolonial y su im-pacto en la economía. Se concluye que la distorsión del comercio interregional y de la estructura de la economía nigeriana precolonial comenzó con la penetración gradual de los euro-peos en el interior del país para llevar a cabo la compra directa de palma a los productores después de la abolición del comercio de esclavos.     Palabras clave: Comercio, Comercio internacional, el comercio a larga distancia, el comercio exterior, la economía nigeriana.  _____________________ Abstract: The area now designated Nigeria has a long history of communities trading across frontiers with neighbours and distant lands long be-fore the arrival of the Europeans and the introduction of modern international trading system. The various polities that emerged and con-trolled different parts of the area participated effectively and benefited from long distance trade, which afforded them the opportunity to exchange their abundance for what they lacked but which was available elsewhere whether far or near. With reference to the nature of the Nigerian environment, regional specialisation, external trade relations and the capacity

  11. Trade and health: an agenda for action

    Science.gov (United States)

    Smith, Richard D; Lee, Kelley; Drager, Nick

    2009-01-01

    The processes of contemporary globalisation are creating ever-closer ties between individuals and populations across different countries. The health of a population, and the systems in place to deliver health care, are affected increasingly by factors beyond the population and health system. The Lancet’s Series on trade and health has provided an overview of these links between international trade, trade liberalisation, and health, and raised the key issues that face the health community. In this final paper in the Series, we call for a substantial and sustained effort by those within the health profession to engage with issues of trade, to strengthen institutional capacity in this area, and to place health higher on the agenda of trade negotiations. The rapid rise of trade agreements and treaties, as well as trade that occurs beyond these institutional boundaries, means that further action is required by a range of actors, including WHO, the World Bank, the World Trade Organization (WTO), regional agencies, foundations, national governments, civil society, non-governmental organisations, and academics. The stewardship of a domestic health system in the 21st century requires a sophisticated understanding of how trade affects, and will affect, a country’s health system and policy, to optimise opportunities to benefit health and health care while minimising the risks posed though the assertion of health goals in trade policy. To acheive this will place a premium on all those engaged in health to understand the importance of trade and to engage with their counterparts involved in trade and trade policy. We hope that this Series has prompted the reader to become involved in these efforts. PMID:19167056

  12. Trade and health: an agenda for action.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Smith, Richard D; Lee, Kelley; Drager, Nick

    2009-02-28

    The processes of contemporary globalisation are creating ever-closer ties between individuals and populations across different countries. The health of a population, and the systems in place to deliver health care, are affected increasingly by factors beyond the population and health system. The Lancet's Series on trade and health has provided an overview of these links between international trade, trade liberalisation, and health, and raised the key issues that face the health community. In this final paper in the Series, we call for a substantial and sustained effort by those within the health profession to engage with issues of trade, to strengthen institutional capacity in this area, and to place health higher on the agenda of trade negotiations. The rapid rise of trade agreements and treaties, as well as trade that occurs beyond these institutional boundaries, means that further action is required by a range of actors, including WHO, the World Bank, the World Trade Organization (WTO), regional agencies, foundations, national governments, civil society, non-governmental organisations, and academics. The stewardship of a domestic health system in the 21st century requires a sophisticated understanding of how trade affects, and will affect, a country's health system and policy, to optimise opportunities to benefit health and health care while minimising the risks posed though the assertion of health goals in trade policy. To acheive this will place a premium on all those engaged in health to understand the importance of trade and to engage with their counterparts involved in trade and trade policy. We hope that this Series has prompted the reader to become involved in these efforts.

  13. Geographical Area and Life History Traits Influence Diet in an Arctic Marine Predator.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tartu, Sabrina; Bourgeon, Sophie; Aars, Jon; Andersen, Magnus; Ehrich, Dorothee; Thiemann, Gregory W; Welker, Jeffrey M; Routti, Heli

    2016-01-01

    Global changes are thought to affect most Arctic species, yet some populations are more at risk. Today, the Barents Sea ecoregion is suffering the strongest sea ice retreat ever measured; and these changes are suspected to modify food access and thus diet of several species. Biochemical diet tracers enable investigation of diet in species such as polar bears (Ursus maritimus). We examined individual diet variation of female polar bears in Svalbard, Norway, and related it to year, season (spring and autumn), sampling area and breeding status (solitary, with cubs of the year or yearlings). Sampling areas were split according to their ice cover: North-West (less sea ice cover), South-East (larger amplitude in sea ice extent) and North-East/South-West (NESW) as bears from that zone are more mobile among all regions of Svalbard. We measured fatty acid (FA) composition in adipose tissue and carbon (δ13C) and nitrogen (δ15N) stable isotopes in plasma and red blood cells. Females feeding in the North-West area had lower δ15N values than those from the NESW. In South-East females, δ13C values were lower in autumn compared to spring and females seemed less selective in their diet as depicted by large variances in stable isotope values. Considering the differences in FA composition and stable isotope values, we suggest that females from the North-West and South-East could ingest a higher proportion of avian prey. With regard to breeding status, solitary females had higher δ15N values and smaller variance in their stable isotopic values than females with cubs, suggesting that solitary females were more selective and prey on higher trophic level species (i.e. seals). Overall, our results indicate that prey availability for Svalbard polar bears varies according to geographical area and prey selectivity differs according to breeding status. Our findings suggest that complex changes in sea ice and prey availability will interact to affect Svalbard polar bear feeding patterns

  14. Geographical Area and Life History Traits Influence Diet in an Arctic Marine Predator.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sabrina Tartu

    Full Text Available Global changes are thought to affect most Arctic species, yet some populations are more at risk. Today, the Barents Sea ecoregion is suffering the strongest sea ice retreat ever measured; and these changes are suspected to modify food access and thus diet of several species. Biochemical diet tracers enable investigation of diet in species such as polar bears (Ursus maritimus. We examined individual diet variation of female polar bears in Svalbard, Norway, and related it to year, season (spring and autumn, sampling area and breeding status (solitary, with cubs of the year or yearlings. Sampling areas were split according to their ice cover: North-West (less sea ice cover, South-East (larger amplitude in sea ice extent and North-East/South-West (NESW as bears from that zone are more mobile among all regions of Svalbard. We measured fatty acid (FA composition in adipose tissue and carbon (δ13C and nitrogen (δ15N stable isotopes in plasma and red blood cells. Females feeding in the North-West area had lower δ15N values than those from the NESW. In South-East females, δ13C values were lower in autumn compared to spring and females seemed less selective in their diet as depicted by large variances in stable isotope values. Considering the differences in FA composition and stable isotope values, we suggest that females from the North-West and South-East could ingest a higher proportion of avian prey. With regard to breeding status, solitary females had higher δ15N values and smaller variance in their stable isotopic values than females with cubs, suggesting that solitary females were more selective and prey on higher trophic level species (i.e. seals. Overall, our results indicate that prey availability for Svalbard polar bears varies according to geographical area and prey selectivity differs according to breeding status. Our findings suggest that complex changes in sea ice and prey availability will interact to affect Svalbard polar bear feeding

  15. Methods and technologies of energy conservation in trade business

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kalveram, G

    1983-10-01

    Proposals to devise a structure of energy consumers in the Federal Republic of Germany mostly make use of the following division: industry, transport, and households, small consumers and other consumers. The third consumer group, which is supposed to include also trading businesses, accounts for approximately 44% of the total energy consumption. The remaining 56% are consumed by the industry (39%) and transport (17%). The level of energy consumption and energy cost in the trade is determined by a multitude of factors specific to the enterprise, such as for instance the geographic position of the undertaking, i.e. differing climatic conditions, opening times, condition of the buildings and technical equipment. In spite of this, considerable amounts can be saved if the energy sources respectively the aggregates powered with them are used carefully and economically and if the most recent energy-saving technologies are taken into account.

  16. Trade Policy

    OpenAIRE

    Murray Gibbs

    2007-01-01

    In an otherwise insightful and thoughtful article, Sebastian Pfotenhauer (Trade Policy Is Science Policy,” Issues, Fall 2013) might better have entitled his contribution “Trade Policy Needs to Be Reconciled with Science Policy.” The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the agreements administered by the World Trade Organization, particularly the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) and the Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT), were adopted to promote international trade and i...

  17. Key Trends in the Development of Foreign Trade of France in the Global Competitive Environment

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zvirgzde Kateryna I.

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available The article is aimed at analyzing the nature and contemporary trends of foreign trade activity of France. In the process of evolutionary development of the economy of France in content, structure and directions of its foreign trade strategies occurred permanent modifications and transformations, resulting from the need to maintain optimal proportions between material, financial and human resources, production and consumption, commodity supply and purchasing power, as well as receipts and payments in the settlements with other countries. The article is concerned with an integrated analysis of progressive structural reforms in the economic system of France in the last decade, which led to fundamental changes in its foreign trade operations both in terms of monetary magnitude of export-import transactions and their product-species, geographical, institutional and regulatory structures. The nature, key indicators, trends and issues in the foreign trade strategy of France in the face of global volatility as well as ways for its improvement have been researched.

  18. Medical specialists' choice of location: the role of geographical attachment in Norway.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kristiansen, I S; Førde, O H

    1992-01-01

    The relation between current place of work (area of the country) and factors that might possibly represent doctors geographical attachments was studied in a sample of 322 Norwegian medical specialists. Location of hospital residency, age and geographical origin of spouse were associated with current location. Geographical attachment seems to influence doctors' locational choices from start of medical school until the end of their residency. The probability that a doctor shall locate in peripheral areas may increase from less than 10% to more than 50% if the doctor has the residency training in the periphery. Hence, favoring entrance to medical schools of students from the underserved areas, and location of graduate and postgraduate medical training in the underserved areas, as far as it is feasible while still maintaining medical standards, is suggested by the study.

  19. 47 CFR 76.984 - Geographically uniform rate structure.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-10-01

    ... throughout each franchise area in which cable service is provided. (b) This section does not prohibit the... and conditions of service, within a franchise area. (c) This section does not apply to: (1) A cable operator with respect to the provision of cable service over its cable system in any geographic area in...

  20. International provision of trade services, trade, and fragmentation

    OpenAIRE

    Deardorff, Alan V.

    2001-01-01

    The author examines the special role that trade liberalization in services industries can play in stimulating trade in both services, and goods. International trade in goods requires inputs from such trade services as transportation, insurance, and finance, for example. Restrictions on services across borders, and within foreign countries add costs, and barriers to international trade. Lib...

  1. Local and global perspectives on the virtual water trade

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    S. Tamea

    2013-03-01

    Full Text Available Recent studies on fluxes of virtual water are showing how the global food and goods trade interconnects the water resources of different and distant countries, conditioning the local water balances. This paper presents and discusses the assessment of virtual water fluxes between a single country and its network of trading partners, delineating a country's virtual water budget in space and time (years 1986–2010. The fluxes between the country under study and its importing/exporting partners are visualized with a geographical representation shaping the trade network as a virtual river/delta. Time variations of exchanged fluxes are quantified to show possible trends in the virtual water balance, while characterizing the time evolution of the trade network and its composition in terms of product categories (plant-based, animal-based, luxury food, and non-edible. The average distance traveled by virtual water to arrive to the place of consumption is also introduced as a new measure for the analysis of globalization of the virtual water trade. Using Italy as an example, we find that food trade has a steadily growing importance compared to domestic production, with a major component represented by plant-based products, and luxury products taking an increasingly larger share (26% in 2010. In 2010 Italy had an average net import of 55 km3 of virtual water (38 km3 in 1986, a value which poses the country among the top net importers in the world. On average each cubic meter of virtual water travels nearly 4000 km before entering Italy, while export goes to relatively closer countries (average distance: 2600 km, with increasing trends in time which are almost unique among the world countries. Analyses proposed for Italy are replicated for 10 other world countries, triggering similar investigations on different socio-economic actualities.

  2. Local and global perspectives on the virtual water trade

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tamea, S.; Allamano, P.; Carr, J. A.; Claps, P.; Laio, F.; Ridolfi, L.

    2013-03-01

    Recent studies on fluxes of virtual water are showing how the global food and goods trade interconnects the water resources of different and distant countries, conditioning the local water balances. This paper presents and discusses the assessment of virtual water fluxes between a single country and its network of trading partners, delineating a country's virtual water budget in space and time (years 1986-2010). The fluxes between the country under study and its importing/exporting partners are visualized with a geographical representation shaping the trade network as a virtual river/delta. Time variations of exchanged fluxes are quantified to show possible trends in the virtual water balance, while characterizing the time evolution of the trade network and its composition in terms of product categories (plant-based, animal-based, luxury food, and non-edible). The average distance traveled by virtual water to arrive to the place of consumption is also introduced as a new measure for the analysis of globalization of the virtual water trade. Using Italy as an example, we find that food trade has a steadily growing importance compared to domestic production, with a major component represented by plant-based products, and luxury products taking an increasingly larger share (26% in 2010). In 2010 Italy had an average net import of 55 km3 of virtual water (38 km3 in 1986), a value which poses the country among the top net importers in the world. On average each cubic meter of virtual water travels nearly 4000 km before entering Italy, while export goes to relatively closer countries (average distance: 2600 km), with increasing trends in time which are almost unique among the world countries. Analyses proposed for Italy are replicated for 10 other world countries, triggering similar investigations on different socio-economic actualities.

  3. Spatial Characteristics of Art Trade in Hungary

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ibolya Várnai

    2018-04-01

    Full Text Available Century-long traditons of art trade in Hungary are strongly connected to the capital, famous, elite auction houses and galleries are concentrated in the downtown area of Budapest. Although art market in Hungary is capital-centered, remarkable amount of art trade takes place in the countryside too. This study aims to give insight into the presence of the different types of art trade (antique shops, second-hand book stores, art galleries and auction houses in rural settlements, compared to the characteristics of art trade in Budapest. The research – based on primary data collection – reveals the social, economic, and cultural factors which explain the regional differences in art trade. During the field work in Budapest, semi-structured interviews were conducted with art gallery owners, auctioners, and antiquarians. The penetration index (PEX which was applied in the case of researches in the countryside shows the rate in which the different types of art trade are present in settlements of different sizes. The results are demonstrated on the map with the help of the Mapinfo 12.5 software.

  4. ASEAN’s Preferential Trade Agreements (PTA Strategy

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Guanyi Leu

    2011-01-01

    Full Text Available This paper provides a diversification explanation in order understand the development of PTAs in Southeast Asia. I argue that an important reason why ASEAN states participate in PTAs has been to diversify existing trade ties and to reduce overdependence on a narrow range of export markets. Southeast Asian countries have formed PTAs with markets with which they had weak or unexplored economic relations, as demonstrated by three case analyses: the ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA, the ASEAN-China Free Trade Agreement (ACFTA and the ASEAN-Japan Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (AJCEP. To maximise the economic gains and the diversification effects of PTA participation, ASEAN countries have pursued a strategy of strengthening economic unity while keeping external economic linkages as diversified as possible. Although East Asia, and especially China, was an important alternative market to reduce ASEAN’s dependence on trade with America, ASEAN countries have also pursued PTAs with a number of other trading partners. This paper explains how PTAs have helped ASEAN states to develop more policy autonomy in their trading environment.

  5. Virtual water trade and bilateral conflicts

    Science.gov (United States)

    De Angelis, Enrico; Metulini, Rodolfo; Bove, Vincenzo; Riccaboni, Massimo

    2017-12-01

    In light of growing water scarcity, virtual water, or the water embedded in key water-intensive commodities, has been an active area of debate among practitioners and academics alike. As of yet, however, there is no consensus on whether water scarcity affects conflict behavior and we still lack empirical research intending to account for the role of virtual water in affecting the odds of militarized disputes between states. Using quantitative methods and data on virtual water trade, we find that bilateral and multilateral trade openness reduce the probability of war between any given pair of countries, which is consistent with the strategic role of this important commodity and the opportunity cost associated with the loss of trade gains. We also find that the substantive effect of virtual water trade is comparable to that of oil and gas, the archetypal natural resources, in determining interstate conflicts' probability.

  6. Mithra and the Arrangement of Geographical Lists in the Achaemenid and Sasanid Inscriptions

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    nazanin tamari

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available The division of the world is one of the issues that began with the social life of human in all over the world and still continues. The oldest division has mythical and legendary aspects that shows the geographical knowledge or religious and ethnic beliefs of their predecessors. Various geographical divisions can be seen in the ancient Iranians tradition. Each of these divisions follow the specific arrangement of listing the geographical areas, which discussed in this paper. The arrangement of geographical areas in Achaemenid and Sasanin inscriptions and in the Mihr Ya&scaront, the oldest of Avesta, are the same. Because of this similarity can’t be accidental, in this paper the cause of the similarities has been investigated. The arrangement of geographical areas in two lists ( inscriptions and Mihr Ya&scaront shows clockwise (sunwise fashion, that investigated in religious view in this study. Due to the Mithra’s influence on cultural and religious context of the ancient Iranians, for the first time in present paper investigated the role of this god and his influence on the writing the geographical lists in the Achaemenid and Sasanin inscriptions.

  7. A trade-based method for modelling supply markets in consequential LCA exemplified with Portland cement and bananas

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Sacchi, Romain

    2017-01-01

    This study proposes a method based on the analysis of trade networks over time for modelling the marginal supply of products in consequential life cycle assessment (LCA). It aims at increasing the geographical granularity of markets, accuracy of transport distances and modes and material losses d...

  8. 77 FR 49059 - Requested Administrative Waiver of the Coastwise Trade Laws: Vessel CHAT DE MER; Invitation for...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2012-08-15

    ... Administrative Waiver of the Coastwise Trade Laws: Vessel CHAT DE MER; Invitation for Public Comments AGENCY....gov . SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: As described by the applicant the intended service of the vessel CHAT... Francisco Bay. Geographic Region: ``California.'' The complete application is given in DOT docket MARAD-2012...

  9. The Trade-off Between Housing Density and Sprawl Area: Minimizing Impacts to Carabid Beetles (Coleoptera: Carabidae

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sara A. Gagné

    2010-12-01

    Full Text Available Increasing housing density has negative effects on native biodiversity. This implies that we should build at low density to conserve native species. However, for a given human population, low-density development must cover a large area, resulting in sprawl. A pertinent question is then, at what housing density are the impacts of a given human population on native biodiversity minimized? We addressed this question with carabid beetles in Ottawa and Gatineau, Canada. First, we collected beetles at 22 sites representing a range of housing densities. We then used these data to estimate beetle abundance and species richness in hypothetical development scenarios representing the housing density/sprawl area trade-off. Our results suggest that clustering development at a high housing density minimizes the impacts of a given human population on carabid beetles. If these results are general across all forest taxa, then planning that favors densification rather than sprawl would minimize urbanization effects on forest biodiversity.

  10. THE WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION (WTO FREE TRADE WITHIN FAIR TRADE CHALLENGES

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    M. Ya’kub Aiyub Kadir

    2014-06-01

    Full Text Available Free trade and fair trade are considered an ambiguous term with relative meanings of identification. Objectively, free and fair trade does not mean completely free and fair, but it means trade under binding rules obeyed by member countries as a consequence of their commitment after signing and ratification of the WTO agreements. Hence, this paper aims at exploring the issue and does an effort to harmonise between free trade and fair trade within the WTO system. Perdagangan bebas dan perdagangan yang adil adalah dua istilah yang ambigu maknanya. Secara obyektif, perdagangan bebas tidak bermakna bebas dan adil seluruhnya, tetapi bermakna sebuah perdagangan di bawah aturan-aturan mengikat setelah negara anggota menandatangani dan meratifikasi kesepakatan WTO. Tetapi dalam realitas kebanyakan Negara, terutama negara berkembang tidak mampu untuk membuka pasar dan menurunkan tarif secara keseluruhan. Persoalan tidak berimbangnya kekuatan, kurang demokrasi, krisis legitimasi dan dobel standar dalam WTO sistem merupakan sebuah tantangan yang masih berlanjut. Paper ini akan mengkaji persoalan ini dan berupaya mengharmonisasikan antara perdagangan bebas dan adil dalam sistem WTO.

  11. THE WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION (WTO FREE TRADE WITHIN FAIR TRADE CHALLENGES

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    M. Ya’kub Aiyub Kadir

    2014-06-01

    Full Text Available Free trade and fair trade are considered an ambiguous term with relative meanings of identification. Objectively, free and fair trade does not mean completely free and fair, but it means trade under binding rules obeyed by member countries as a consequence of their commitment after signing and ratification of the WTO agreements. Hence, this paper aims at exploring the issue and does an effort to harmonise between free trade and fair trade within the WTO system.   Perdagangan bebas dan perdagangan yang adil adalah dua istilah yang ambigu maknanya. Secara obyektif, perdagangan bebas tidak bermakna bebas dan adil seluruhnya, tetapi bermakna sebuah perdagangan di bawah aturan-aturan mengikat setelah negara anggota menandatangani dan meratifikasi kesepakatan WTO. Tetapi dalam realitas kebanyakan Negara, terutama negara berkembang tidak mampu untuk membuka pasar dan menurunkan tarif secara keseluruhan. Persoalan tidak berimbangnya kekuatan, kurang demokrasi, krisis legitimasi dan dobel standar dalam WTO sistem merupakan sebuah tantangan yang masih berlanjut. Paper ini akan mengkaji persoalan ini dan berupaya mengharmonisasikan antara perdagangan bebas dan adil dalam sistem WTO.

  12. Emissions trading comes of age as a strategic tool

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Pospisil, R.

    1996-01-01

    Trading of emissions credits has quickly evolved from a curiosity to a viable compliance strategy for electric utilities and power-generating industrial firms. A sure sign that emissions trading has matured is the entry of power marketers onto the scene; in bundling pollution allowances with their electricity offerings, they are making their product more attractive - and stealing a page from the coal companies' strategy book to boot. Although most current activity involves credits for sulfur dioxide (SO 2 ), nitrogen oxide (NO x ) trading is under way in certain areas as well, although NO x markets are local and thus slower to develop. However, utilities see economic development potential in this area; some are providing NO x credits to their industrial customers to help them comply with environmental regulations - and to retain their loyalty when deregulation affords them a choice of electricity suppliers. This paper briefly discusses the issues related to emissions trading

  13. Regional Monopoly and Interregional and Intraregional Competition: The Parallel Trade in Coca-Cola between Shanghai and Hangzhou in China

    OpenAIRE

    Yeung, Godfrey; Mok, Vincent

    2006-01-01

    This article uses a “principal-agent-subagent” analytical framework and data that were collected from field surveys in China to (1) investigate the nature and causes of the parallel trade in Coca-Cola between Shanghai and Hangzhou and (2) assess the geographic and theoretical implications for the regional monopolies that have been artificially created by Coca-Cola in China. The parallel trade in Coca-Cola is sustained by its intraregional rivalry with Pepsi-Cola in Shanghai, where Coca-Cola (...

  14. Geographic information system (GIS) representation of coal-bearing areas in India and Bangladesh

    Science.gov (United States)

    Trippi, Michael H.; Tewalt, Susan J.

    2011-01-01

    Geographic information system (GIS) information may facilitate energy studies, which in turn provide input for energy policy decisions. Prior to this study, no GIS file representing the occurrence of coal-bearing units in India or Bangladesh was known to exist. This Open-File Report contains downloadable shapefiles representing the coalfields of India and Bangladesh and a limited number of chemical and petrographic analyses of India and Bangladesh coal samples. Also included are maps of India and Bangladesh showing the locations of the coalfields and coal samples in the shapefiles, figures summarizing the stratigraphic units in the coalfields of India and Bangladesh, and a brief report summarizing the stratigraphy and geographic locations of coal-bearing deposits in India and Bangladesh.

  15. Implementing a geographical information system to assess endemic fluoride areas in Lamphun, Thailand

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Theerawasttanasiri N

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available Nonthaphat Theerawasttanasiri,1,2 Surasak Taneepanichskul,1 Wichain Pingchai,3 Yuwaree Nimchareon,4 Sangworn Sriwichai5 1College of Public Health Sciences, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand; 2Department of Health, Health Promotion Center Region 1, Chiang Mai, Thailand; 3Mueang Lamphun District Public Health Office, 4Pasang District Public Health Office, 5Ban Thi District Public Health Office, Lamphun, Thailand Introduction: Many studies have shown that fluoride can cross the placenta and that exposure to high fluoride during pregnancy may result in premature birth and/or a low birth weight. Lamphun is one of six provinces in Thailand where natural water fluoride (WF concentrations >10.0 mg/L were found, and it was also found that >50% of households used water with high fluoride levels. Nevertheless, geographical information system (GIS and maps of endemic fluoride areas are lacking. We aimed to measure the fluoride level of village water supplies to assess endemic fluoride areas and present GIS with maps in Google Maps.Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted from July 2016 to January 2017. Purpose sampling was used to identify villages of districts with WF >10.0 mg/L in the Mueang Lamphun, Pasang, and Ban Thi districts. Water samples were collected with the geolocation measured by Smart System Info. Fluoride was analyzed with an ion-selective electrode instrument using a total ionic strength adjustment buffer. WF >0.70 mg/L was used to identify unsafe drinking water and areas with high endemic fluoride levels. Descriptive statistics were used to describe the findings, and MS Excel was used to create the GIS database. Maps were created in Google Earth and presented in Google Maps.Results: We found that WF concentrations ranged between 0.10–13.60 mg/L. Forty-four percent (n=439 of samples were at unsafe levels (>0.70 mg/L, and. 54% (n=303 of villages and 46% (n=79,807 of households used the unsafe drinking water. Fifty percent

  16. Currently important animal disease management issues in sub-Saharan Africa : policy and trade issues

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    G.R. Thomson

    2009-09-01

    Full Text Available The present international approach to management of transboundary animal diseases (TADs is based on the assumption that most can be eradicated ; consequently, that is the usual objective adopted by international organizations concerned with animal health. However, for sub-Saharan Africa and southern Africa more particularly, eradication of most TADs is impossible for the foreseeable future for a variety of technical, financial and logistical reasons. Compounding this, the present basis for access to international markets for products derived from animals requires that the area of origin (country or zone is free from trade-influencing TADs. The ongoing development of transfrontier conservation areas (TFCAs, extending across huge areas of southern Africa, therefore presents a development conundrum because it makes creation of geographic areas free from TADs more difficult and brings development based on wildlife conservation on the one hand and that based on livestock production on the other into sharp conflict. Sub-Saharan Africa is consequently confronted by a complex problem that contributes significantly to retarded rural development which, in turn, impedes poverty alleviation. In southern Africa specifically, foot-and-mouth disease (FMD presents the greatest problem in relation to access to international markets for animal products. However, it is argued that this problem could be overcome by a combination between (1 implementation of a commodity-based approach to trade in products derived from animals and (2 amendment of the international standards for FMD specifically (i.e. the FMD chapter in the Terrestrial Animal Health Code of the World Organisation for Animal Health [OIE] so that occurrence of SAT serotype viruses in free-living African buffalo need not necessarily mean exclusion of areas where buffalo occur from international markets for animal products. This would overcome a presently intractable constraint to market access for

  17. Introduction to International Trade.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Crummett, Dan M.; Crummett, Jerrie

    This set of student and teacher guides is intended for use in a course to prepare students for entry-level employment in such occupational areas in international trade as business/finance, communications, logistics, and marketing. The following topics are covered in the course's five instructional units: introduction to careers in international…

  18. Syllabus in Trade Welding.

    Science.gov (United States)

    New York State Education Dept., Albany. Bureau of Secondary Curriculum Development.

    The syllabus outlines material for a course two academic years in length (minimum two and one-half hours daily experience) leading to entry-level occupational ability in several welding trade areas. Fourteen units covering are welding, gas welding, oxyacetylene welding, cutting, nonfusion processes, inert gas shielded-arc welding, welding cast…

  19. Towards informed and multi-faceted wildlife trade interventions

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Daniel W.S. Challender

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available International trade in wildlife is a key threat to biodiversity conservation. CITES, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, seeks to ensure international wildlife trade is sustainable, relying on trade bans and controls. However, there has been little comprehensive review of its effectiveness and here we review approaches taken to regulate wildlife trade in CITES. Although assessing its effectiveness is problematic, we assert that CITES boasts few measurable conservation successes. We attribute this to: non-compliance, an over reliance on regulation, lack of knowledge and monitoring of listed species, ignorance of market forces, and influence among CITES actors. To more effectively manage trade we argue that interventions should go beyond regulation and should be multi-faceted, reflecting the complexity of wildlife trade. To inform these interventions we assert an intensive research effort is needed around six key areas: (1 factors undermining wildlife trade governance at the national level, (2 determining sustainable harvest rates for, and adaptive management of CITES species, (3 gaining the buy-in of local communities in implementing CITES, (4 supply and demand based market interventions, (5 means of quantifying illicit trade, and (6 political processes and influence within CITES.

  20. Using NDVI-based measures to derive geographic information on drought-prone areas for developing countries

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gurusamy, Kumari Vadivel

    Remotely sensed NDVI imagery was used to detect drought in developing countries in three continents. The study shows that in spite of the various limitations the NDVI data provide valuable information on drought probabilities due to their significant correlation with rainfall time series (0.4 - 0.7). NDVI data are also accessible at different resolutions (1 degree, 8 km and 1 km) at a global scale in spatiotemporally continuous form for up to 19 years enabling this study to contribute a uniform and simultaneous analysis of drought in poor developing countries. The current study is also done with due consideration to the ecosystem underlying the pixel. Special consideration for the ecosystem is achieved by holding the temporal and spatial identity intact throughout the analysis. The study uses NDVI data from 19 years for a vigorous and quick estimate, using a new method called the 'percent carrying capacity index' method which is shown to perform better than the 'vegetation condition index' method. For a few selected geographic areas, the computed image analysis results were verified against actual occurrence of drought. The image analysis results were found to be consistent with reality in those cases, validating the analysis results for areas for which drought observations have not been recorded. The final continental scale drought maps show the frequently drought-prone areas derived from uniform spatial (8km * 8km) and temporal (decadal) resolution data across three continents.

  1. Impact of the North American Free Trade Agreement on transportation in the border areas of the United States : with emphasis on the California-Mexico border

    Science.gov (United States)

    1999-08-01

    This report identifies impacts of the North ?American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) on transportation in the U.S. border areas. Emphasis is on the California-Baja California border zone. Focus is on the identification of recommendations to the Califor...

  2. The Approach to Defining Gravity Factors of Influence on the Foreign Trade Relations of Countries

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kalyuzhna Nataliya G.

    2017-03-01

    Full Text Available The aim of the article is to determine the gravity factors of influence on the foreign trade relations of countries on the basis of the results of the comparative analysis of the classical specifications of the gravity model of foreign trade and the domestic experience in gravity modeling. It is substantiated that a gravity model is one of the tools of economic and mathematical modeling, the use of which is characterized by a high level of adequacy and ensures prediction of foreign trade conditions. The main approaches to the definition of explanatory variables in the gravity equation of foreign trade are analyzed, and the author’s approach to the selection of the factors of the gravity model is proposed. As the first explanatory variable in the specification of the gravity model of foreign trade and the characteristics of the importance of economies of foreign trade partners, it is proposed to use the GDP calculated at purchasing power parity with the expected positive and statistically significant coefficient. As the second explanatory variable of the gravity equation of foreign trade, it is proposed to use a complex characteristic of the “trade distance” between countries, which reflects the current conditions of bilateral trade and depends on factors influencing the foreign trade turnover between countries — both directly (static proportionality of transport costs of geographical remoteness, and indirectly (dynamic institutional conditions of bilateral relations. The expediency of using the world average annual price for oil as the quantitative equivalent of the “trading distance” index is substantiated. Prospects for further research in this direction are identifying the form and force of influence of certain basic gravity variables on the foreign trade relations of certain partner countries and determining the appropriateness of including additional factors in the composition of the gravity equation of foreign trade.

  3. Energy trading

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Glachant, J.M.; Kimman, R.; Schweickardt, H.E.

    2001-05-01

    This document brings together 18 testimonies of experts about energy trading: 1 - the energy trading experience on European deregulated markets: structure of deregulated energy markets in Europe, case study: a two years experience of a power exchange in western Europe, case study: European energy exchanges (experience of spot and future trading), case study: risk management on energy deregulated markets; 2 - the trading activity environment and realities in France: the French electrical law and the purchase for resale, experience feedback: status after 3 months of trading in France (the first experience of a French producer), the access to the power transportation network, which legal constraints for trading in France, the access of eligible clients to the French power market, conditions of implementation of a power exchange market in France, which real trading possibilities in France for producers and self-producers in the legal frame, case study: the role of trading in the company (main part or link to process), convergence of gas and electricity markets, gas-electricity trading: which pricing models; 3 - risk management and use of new technologies potentiality, the results outside the French borders: case study: what differences between the European and US markets, prices volatility and commodity risk management: towards the on-line trading, role and developments of E-business in energy trading, how to simplify trade in a liberalized market. (J.S.)

  4. Characteristics of the socio-geographical factors in the Drina-Velika Morava strategic direction zone

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dejan Radivoj Inđić

    2013-06-01

    Full Text Available This paper presents the assessment of the operational – geographic features of the Drina–Velikamorava strategic direction. Due to the scope of the article, a variant of the assessment of the strategic direction is presented through its socio–geographic factors, while the mathematical–geographical and physical–geographic factors, as well as the operating lines of action are not discussed. Within the socio–geographic factors, the characteristics of the population, economy and communication networks are considered. The geographic area of the direction is nationally compact and provides war mobilization of units with no particular strain. The transportation network is not fully developed which makes combat operations difficult to attackers and facilitates them for the deffenders.. There are significant technical and technological potentials in the direction of the zone, but they are not evenly distributed. After the consideration of the complex socio – geographical factors, it is  concluded that the shown strategic direction enables, without any special restrictions, a successful execution of combat operations in the long run.   Introduction The Drina–Velikamorava strategic direction of action consists of two operational lines: Semberija–Šumadija and Glasinac–Zapadnamorava. This paper presents a variant of a complex evaluation of the socio–geographic factors in the area of strategic direction. Within the socio–geographic factors in the strategic direction, the characteristics of the population, economy and communication networks are discussed.   Characteristics of the population and settlements In the geographic strategic direction, there is about 30% of the population of the Republic of Serbia. The highest population density is in major cities (Belgrade, Novi Sad, Šabac, Čačak, etc.. The space is nationally compact, and over 95% of the population are Serbs. In terms of building methods,there are the following types of

  5. Global economic trade-offs between wild nature and tropical agriculture.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Carrasco, Luis R; Webb, Edward L; Symes, William S; Koh, Lian P; Sodhi, Navjot S

    2017-07-01

    Global demands for agricultural and forestry products provide economic incentives for deforestation across the tropics. Much of this deforestation occurs with a lack of information on the spatial distribution of benefits and costs of deforestation. To inform global sustainable land-use policies, we combine geographic information systems (GIS) with a meta-analysis of ecosystem services (ES) studies to perform a spatially explicit analysis of the trade-offs between agricultural benefits, carbon emissions, and losses of multiple ecosystem services because of tropical deforestation from 2000 to 2012. Even though the value of ecosystem services presents large inherent uncertainties, we find a pattern supporting the argument that the externalities of destroying tropical forests are greater than the current direct economic benefits derived from agriculture in all cases bar one: when yield and rent potentials of high-value crops could be realized in the future. Our analysis identifies the Atlantic Forest, areas around the Gulf of Guinea, and Thailand as areas where agricultural conversion appears economically efficient, indicating a major impediment to the long-term financial sustainability of Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation (REDD+) schemes in those countries. By contrast, Latin America, insular Southeast Asia, and Madagascar present areas with low agricultural rents (ARs) and high values in carbon stocks and ES, suggesting that they are economically viable conservation targets. Our study helps identify optimal areas for conservation and agriculture together with their associated uncertainties, which could enhance the efficiency and sustainability of pantropical land-use policies and help direct future research efforts.

  6. International trade law perspectives on paperless trade and inclusive digital trade

    OpenAIRE

    Mitchell, Andrew D.; Mishra, Neha

    2017-01-01

    Cross-border paperless trade is increasingly important to generate economic gains in a digitalised economy. Several developing and least developed countries will need to modernise their domestic laws and regulations to facilitate cross-border electronic transmissions, particularly to promote cloud computing and electronic payments. In recent trade agreements, trading partners have committed to deeper and more comprehensive provisions on electronic commerce, including adopting domestic laws on...

  7. REFLECTIONS ON ROMANIA'S TRADE WITH EU DURING THE PERIOD 2007-2015

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    PAUL BOGDAN ZAMFIR

    2017-02-01

    Full Text Available In this paper, the author intends to highlight the overall evolution of Romania's bilateral trade relations with EU in the period 2007-2015. On this background it is important to mention that the European Union (EU has been the main trade partner of Romania both the export and import throughout this period of post-accession. So, during the analyzed period, as can be observed from statistical data provided by INSSE it is obvious a general tendency of enhancing Romania's trade with EU. Furthermore, since 2007 EU has held a share of over 70% in total imports and exports of Romania. Also, relative to the evolution of Romania's trade balance in relation with EU, from statistical data presented in the paper, can be noticed that in the reference period it has known a general negative trend. There are also presented some positive progress of our country in issue of adjusting the trade balance deficit with EU. In these circumstances, can be proposed a range of macroeconomic measures formulated in direction of reducing the trade deficit, registered by our country in relation with EU. Another element of maximum visibility in this analyzed issues is represented by geographical orientation of Romanian exports and imports with EU countries. Starting from statistical data provided by INSSE through the prestigious official publication Romanian International Trade Yearbook, results clearly that in the whole of this reference period, Germany had the most significant share of over 20%, both export and import. Also during this period of post-accession, the attention of policy makers should focus on measures that will can lead to increase of Romania 's trade not only with Germany, Italy, France, Hungary etc. but also with other community partners whose share in Romania's total trade with EU was a insignificant along analysed period. Thus, in the current context and in perspective for Romania is imperative necessary the proliferation, intensification and

  8. Policing Iranian Sanctions: Trade, Identity, and Smuggling Networks in the Arabian Gulf

    Science.gov (United States)

    2013-03-01

    Kegan Paul International, 1994), 9–10. 22 A.W. Stiffe, “Ancient Trading Centres of the Persian Gulf: VII Bahrain,” The Geographical Journal 18, no... Kegan Paul International, 1994. Al Naboodah, H.M. “The Commercial Activity of Bahrain and Oman in the Early Middle Ages.” Proceedings of the...Byman, Daniel and Jerrold Green . Political Violence and Stability in the States of the Northern Persian Gulf. California: RAND, 1999. Castles

  9. Globalization of water and food through international trade: impacts on food security, resilience and justice

    Science.gov (United States)

    D'Odorico, P.; Carr, J. A.; Seekell, D. A.; Suweis, S. S.

    2015-12-01

    The global distribution of water resources in general depends on geographic conditions but can be (virtually) modified by humans through mechanisms of globalization, such as trade, that make food commodities available to populations living far from the production regions. While trade is expected to improve access to food and (virtual) water, its impact on the global food system and its vulnerability to shocks remains poorly understood. It is also unclear who benefits from trade and whether it contributes to inequality and justice in resource redistribution. We reconstruct the global patterns of food trade and show with a simple model how the ongoing intensification of imports and exports has eroded the resilience of the global food system. Drawing on human rights theory, we investigate the relationship between inequality and injustice in access to water and food. We assess the fulfillment of positive and negative water and food rights and evaluate the obligations arising from the need to ensure that these rights are met throughout the world. We find that trade enhances the vulnerability to shocks but overall increase the number of people whose water and food rights are met.

  10. Explicit area-based accuracy assessment for mangrove tree crown delineation using Geographic Object-Based Image Analysis (GEOBIA)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kamal, Muhammad; Johansen, Kasper

    2017-10-01

    Effective mangrove management requires spatially explicit information of mangrove tree crown map as a basis for ecosystem diversity study and health assessment. Accuracy assessment is an integral part of any mapping activities to measure the effectiveness of the classification approach. In geographic object-based image analysis (GEOBIA) the assessment of the geometric accuracy (shape, symmetry and location) of the created image objects from image segmentation is required. In this study we used an explicit area-based accuracy assessment to measure the degree of similarity between the results of the classification and reference data from different aspects, including overall quality (OQ), user's accuracy (UA), producer's accuracy (PA) and overall accuracy (OA). We developed a rule set to delineate the mangrove tree crown using WorldView-2 pan-sharpened image. The reference map was obtained by visual delineation of the mangrove tree crowns boundaries form a very high-spatial resolution aerial photograph (7.5cm pixel size). Ten random points with a 10 m radius circular buffer were created to calculate the area-based accuracy assessment. The resulting circular polygons were used to clip both the classified image objects and reference map for area comparisons. In this case, the area-based accuracy assessment resulted 64% and 68% for the OQ and OA, respectively. The overall quality of the calculation results shows the class-related area accuracy; which is the area of correctly classified as tree crowns was 64% out of the total area of tree crowns. On the other hand, the overall accuracy of 68% was calculated as the percentage of all correctly classified classes (tree crowns and canopy gaps) in comparison to the total class area (an entire image). Overall, the area-based accuracy assessment was simple to implement and easy to interpret. It also shows explicitly the omission and commission error variations of object boundary delineation with colour coded polygons.

  11. The Social Dimension of EU Trade Policies

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Manners, Ian

    2009-01-01

    will ask how the EU initiatives in this area could increase the legitimacy of the ‘trade and social linkage' in international politics and economics from a normative power perspective. Finally, the article concludes by suggesting a more holistic approach to the promotion of the social dimension......'s social dimension in trade relations - human rights versus welfare concerns and exclusive competence versus lack of competence. These questions and tensions are rendered more methodologically problematic by the existence and activities of other actors and trading powers, such as the International Labour...... Organisation (ILO) and the World Trade Organization (WTO), as well as the United States and China, for example. The rest of the article will provide refl ections on the ideas raised in the special issue from a normative power perspective in six sections. First, it will elaborate on the role of labour rights...

  12. The National Geographic Names Data Base: Phase II instructions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Orth, Donald J.; Payne, Roger L.

    1987-01-01

    The Geographic Names Information System is a computer-based information system developed to meet major national needs by providing information for named entities in the United States, its territories, and outlying areas. The National Geographic Names Data Base, a component of the Geographic Names Information System, currently contains most names and associated information recorded on the 1:24,000-scale (or largest scale available) topographic maps of the U.S. Geological Survey. The work involved in this initial compilation of names shown on the topographic-map series, and the development and editing of the National Geographic Names Data Base, is referred to as Phase I. Optimal use and effectiveness of an automated names system require that the names of features

  13. Global trade and health: key linkages and future challenges.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bettcher, D W; Yach, D; Guindon, G E

    2000-01-01

    Globalization of trade, marketing and investment has important implications for public health, both negative and positive. This article considers the implications of the single package of World Trade Organization (WTO) agreements for public health research and policy, focusing on three themes: commodities, intellectual property rights, and health services. The main aims of the analysis are as follows: to identify how trade issues are associated with the transnationalization of health risks and possible benefits; to identify key areas of research; and to suggest policy-relevant advice and interventions on trade and health issues. The next wave of international trade law will need to take more account of global public health issues. However, to become more engaged in global trade debates, the public health community must gain an understanding of the health effects of global trade agreements. It must also ensure that its own facts are correct, so that public health is not blindly used for political ends, such as justifying unwarranted economic protectionism. "Healthy trade" policies, based on firm empirical evidence and designed to improve health status, are an important step towards reaching a more sustainable form of trade liberalization.

  14. Intraday Trading of Wind Energy

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Skajaa, Anders; Edlund, Kristian; Morales González, Juan Miguel

    2015-01-01

    In this paper, we tackle the problem of a wind power producer participating in a short-term electricity market that allows for the continuous, but potentially illiquid, intraday trading of energy. Considering the realistic case of a wind farm operating in the western Danish price area of Nord Pool......, we build a simple but effective algorithm for the wind power producer to fully benefit from the Elbas intraday market. We then investigate the sensitivity of the obtained benefits to the maximum volume of energy the wind power producer is willing to trade in the intraday market, the ultimate aim...... of the trade (either to decrease energy imbalances or to increase profits) and to the installed capacity of the wind farm. Our numerical results reveal that the wind power producer can substantially increase his revenues by partaking in the intraday market but with diminishing returns to scale—a result that we...

  15. Ancient trade routes shaped the genetic structure of horses in eastern Eurasia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Warmuth, Vera M; Campana, Michael G; Eriksson, Anders; Bower, Mim; Barker, Graeme; Manica, Andrea

    2013-11-01

    Animal exchange networks have been shown to play an important role in determining gene flow among domestic animal populations. The Silk Road is one of the oldest continuous exchange networks in human history, yet its effectiveness in facilitating animal exchange across large geographical distances and topographically challenging landscapes has never been explicitly studied. Horses are known to have been traded along the Silk Roads; however, extensive movement of horses in connection with other human activities may have obscured the genetic signature of the Silk Roads. To investigate the role of the Silk Roads in shaping the genetic structure of horses in eastern Eurasia, we analysed microsatellite genotyping data from 455 village horses sampled from 17 locations. Using least-cost path methods, we compared the performance of models containing the Silk Roads as corridors for gene flow with models containing single landscape features. We also determined whether the recent isolation of former Soviet Union countries from the rest of Eurasia has affected the genetic structure of our samples. The overall level of genetic differentiation was low, consistent with historically high levels of gene flow across the study region. The spatial genetic structure was characterized by a significant, albeit weak, pattern of isolation by distance across the continent with no evidence for the presence of distinct genetic clusters. Incorporating landscape features considerably improved the fit of the data; however, when we controlled for geographical distance, only the correlation between genetic differentiation and the Silk Roads remained significant, supporting the effectiveness of this ancient trade network in facilitating gene flow across large geographical distances in a topographically complex landscape. © 2013 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  16. TRADE ORIENTATION IN THE EU IN THE AFTERMATH OF THE FINANCIAL CRISIS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Cristian SPIRIDON

    2014-12-01

    Full Text Available The present paper aims to analyze the impact the economic crisis bursted out in the United States at the end of 2007 and quasi spreaded all over the world had on the (re orientation of trade flows (exports among European Union member states in general, and Romania in particular. As observation and analysis data tool we chose groupings, tabular and graphical representation. The analysis will be conducted at individual and group of countries levels. The main findings will show that although the geographic network of member states trade has been seriously shaken by the crisis, export flows orientatio remained quite similar to the period previous to economic decline. As for Romania, its exports prove to be influenced by the economic situation of the main European partners.

  17. Geographic resolution issues in RAM transportation risk analysis

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mills G, Scott; Neuhauser, Sieglinde

    2000-01-01

    Over the years that radioactive material (RAM) transportation risk estimates have been calculated using the RADTRAN code, demand for improved geographic resolution of route characteristics, especially density of population neighboring route segments, has led to code improvements that provide more specific route definition. With the advent of geographic information systems (GISs), the achievable resolution of route characteristics is theoretically very high. The authors have compiled population-density data in 1-kilometer increments for routes extending over hundreds of kilometers without impractical expenditures of time. Achievable resolution of analysis is limited, however, by the resolution of available data. U.S. Census data typically have 1-km or better resolution within densely-populated portions of metropolitan areas but census blocks are much larger in rural areas. Geographic resolution of accident-rate data, especially for heavy/combination trucks, are typically tabulated on a statewide basis. These practical realities cause one to ask what level(s) of resolution may be necessary for meaningful risk analysis of transportation actions on a state or interstate scale

  18. Trade Liberalisation and Poverty in Bangladesh: A General Equilibrium Approach

    OpenAIRE

    Nahar, Bodrun; Siriwardana, Mahinda

    2009-01-01

    This paper uses a computable general equilibrium (CGE) model to investigate the impact on poverty of trade liberalisation in Bangladesh. The simulation results show that the complete removal of tariffs favours export oriented sectors in the economy. With trade liberalisation, rural and urban areas experience an overall reduction in poverty in the short run. However, a marginal increase in the poverty gap and poverty severity for urban areas is projected, implying that the poor become poorer i...

  19. Geographic authentication of Asian rice (Oryza sativa L.) using multi-elemental and stable isotopic data combined with multivariate analysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chung, Ill-Min; Kim, Jae-Kwang; Lee, Kyoung-Jin; Park, Sung-Kyu; Lee, Ji-Hee; Son, Na-Young; Jin, Yong-Ik; Kim, Seung-Hyun

    2018-02-01

    Rice (Oryza sativa L.) is the world's third largest food crop after wheat and corn. Geographic authentication of rice has recently emerged asan important issue for enhancing human health via food safety and quality assurance. Here, we aimed to discriminate rice of six Asian countries through geographic authentication using combinations of elemental/isotopic composition analysis and chemometric techniques. Principal components analysis could distinguish samples cultivated from most countries, except for those cultivated in the Philippines and Japan. Furthermore, orthogonal projection to latent structure-discriminant analysis provided clear discrimination between rice cultivated in Korea and other countries. The major common variables responsible for differentiation in these models were δ 34 S, Mn, and Mg. Our findings contribute to understanding the variations of elemental and isotopic compositions in rice depending on geographic origins, and offer valuable insight into the control of fraudulent labeling regarding the geographic origins of rice traded among Asian countries. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  20. Networks of global bird invasion altered by regional trade ban.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Reino, Luís; Figueira, Rui; Beja, Pedro; Araújo, Miguel B; Capinha, César; Strubbe, Diederik

    2017-11-01

    Wildlife trade is a major pathway for introduction of invasive species worldwide. However, how exactly wildlife trade influences invasion risk, beyond the transportation of individuals to novel areas, remains unknown. We analyze the global trade network of wild-caught birds from 1995 to 2011 as reported by CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora). We found that before the European Union ban on imports of wild-caught birds, declared in 2005, invasion risk was closely associated with numbers of imported birds, diversity of import sources, and degree of network centrality of importer countries. After the ban, fluxes of global bird trade declined sharply. However, new trade routes emerged, primarily toward the Nearctic, Afrotropical, and Indo-Malay regions. Although regional bans can curtail invasion risk globally, to be fully effective and prevent rerouting of trade flows, bans should be global.

  1. Geometric algorithms for delineating geographic regions

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Reinbacher, I.

    2006-01-01

    Everyone of us is used to geographical regions like the south of Utrecht, the dutch Randstad, or the mountainous areas of Austria. Some of these regions have crisp, fixed boundaries like Utrecht or Austria. Others, like the dutch Randstad and the Austrian mountains, have no such boundaries and are

  2. USGS compilation of geographic information system (GIS) data of coal mines and coal-bearing areas in Mongolia

    Science.gov (United States)

    Trippi, Michael H.; Belkin, Harvey E.

    2015-09-10

    Geographic information system (GIS) information may facilitate energy studies, which in turn provide input for energy policy decisions. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has compiled GIS data representing coal mines, deposits (including those with and without coal mines), occurrences, areas, basins, and provinces of Mongolia as of 2009. These data are now available for download, and may be used in a GIS for a variety of energy resource and environmental studies of Mongolia. Chemical data for 37 coal samples from a previous USGS study of Mongolia (Tewalt and others, 2010) are included in a downloadable GIS point shapefile and shown on the map of Mongolia. A brief report summarizes the methodology used for creation of the shapefiles and the chemical analyses run on the samples.

  3. The Southern African Development Community Trade Legal Instruments Compliance with Certain Criteria of GATT Article XXIV

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    A Saurombe

    2011-07-01

    Full Text Available Article XXIV of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT lays down the legal principles with which regional trade agreements have to conform. Based on these principles, WTO members have the mandate to determine the legality of Regional Trade Agreements (RTAs under the GATT. Article XXIV permits both regional and bilateral preferential trade agreements leading to the formation of customs unions and free trade areas, and seeks to integrate them in the multilateral trading system envisioned for the world. SADC is an RTA created under this Article. Notwithstanding the controversies surrounding the provisions and interpretation of Article XXIV, this paper seeks to establish the extent to which the SADC Protocol on Trade and free trade area comply with WTO rules. An analysis of selected Article XXIV provisions and the SADC Trade Protocol provisions will be undertaken in trying to establish this compliance.

  4. Soil Survey Geographic (SSURGO) database for Tucumcari Area, Northern Quay County, New Mexico

    Data.gov (United States)

    Earth Data Analysis Center, University of New Mexico — This data set is a digital soil survey and generally is the most detailed level of soil geographic data developed by the National Cooperative Soil Survey. The...

  5. Soil Survey Geographic (SSURGO) database for Ute Mountain Area, Colorado and New Mexico

    Data.gov (United States)

    Earth Data Analysis Center, University of New Mexico — This data set is a digital soil survey and generally is the most detailed level of soil geographic data developed by the National Cooperative Soil Survey. The...

  6. Additive versus multiplicative trade costs and the gains from trade

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Sørensen, Allan

    This paper addresses welfare effects from trade liberalization in a heterogeneous-fi…rms trade model including the empirically important per-unit (i.e. additive) trade costs in addition to the conventional iceberg (i.e. multiplicative) and fi…xed trade costs. The novel contribution of the paper...... is the result that the welfare gain for a given increase in trade openness is higher for reductions in per-unit (additive) trade costs than for reductions in iceberg (multiplicative) trade costs. The ranking derives from differences in intra-industry reallocations and in particular from dissimilar impacts...

  7. Estimating the elasticity of trade: the trade share approach

    OpenAIRE

    Mauro Lanati

    2013-01-01

    Recent theoretical work on international trade emphasizes the importance of trade elasticity as the fundamental statistic needed to conduct welfare analysis. Eaton and Kortum (2002) proposed a two-step method to estimate this parameter, where exporter fixed effects are regressed on proxies for technology and wages. Within the same Ricardian model of trade, the trade share provides an alternative source of identication for the elasticity of trade. Following Santos Silva and Tenreyro (2006) bot...

  8. Impacts of seaborne trade on coal importing countries – Pacific market

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    NONE

    2012-08-15

    In recent years, there has been a convergence of international trade with traditional domestic markets. As imports continue to increase in many coal producing regions, the influence of trade on domestic markets has been twofold. Firstly, imported coal displaces domestic production and, secondly, international price trends may drive prices of what remains of the indigenous market for coal. While international trade does not provide any additional benefits in terms of reduced CO2 at coalfired power stations, importing coal provides many benefits, such as cost savings, improved coal quality, enhanced supply diversity, and often fills a gap which domestic supply is unable to fulfil. This report examines how coal markets have evolved over the decades with utilities and heavy industry moving away from their seemingly secure yet captive markets of domestic coal to procuring more supplies from the international market to satisfy the need of cost reduction and better and consistent quality of fuel product. The various factors that have led to a rise in popularity of seaborne traded coal, and the future of domestically produced coal in the Pacific market are discussed. This is in one of three reports which examine the changing trends in coal imports over the long term in three geographical regions: a global perspective, the Atlantic market and the Pacific market.

  9. Different Factors of Llap as a Geographic Region

    OpenAIRE

    , F. Isufi; , S. Halimi; , F. Humolli

    2011-01-01

    In this work attempts were made to express in the best possible manner the factors which differentiate the Llap as geographic region. The Llap Region is located in the north-east of Kosovo. Within the ethnic geography, the Llap area is having peripheric position, but within the Balkan Penninsula it is having a central position, while along Llap goes the Highway which connects Kosovo and Serbia. The Llap region has important natural conditions; such as very good geographic position, running an...

  10. Comparison of average global exposure of population induced by a macro 3G network in different geographical areas in France and Serbia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Huang, Yuanyuan; Varsier, Nadège; Niksic, Stevan; Kocan, Enis; Pejanovic-Djurisic, Milica; Popovic, Milica; Koprivica, Mladen; Neskovic, Aleksandar; Milinkovic, Jelena; Gati, Azeddine; Person, Christian; Wiart, Joe

    2016-09-01

    This article is the first thorough study of average population exposure to third generation network (3G)-induced electromagnetic fields (EMFs), from both uplink and downlink radio emissions in different countries, geographical areas, and for different wireless device usages. Indeed, previous publications in the framework of exposure to EMFs generally focused on individual exposure coming from either personal devices or base stations. Results, derived from device usage statistics collected in France and Serbia, show a strong heterogeneity of exposure, both in time, that is, the traffic distribution over 24 h was found highly variable, and space, that is, the exposure to 3G networks in France was found to be roughly two times higher than in Serbia. Such heterogeneity is further explained based on real data and network architecture. Among those results, authors show that, contrary to popular belief, exposure to 3G EMFs is dominated by uplink radio emissions, resulting from voice and data traffic, and average population EMF exposure differs from one geographical area to another, as well as from one country to another, due to the different cellular network architectures and variability of mobile usage. Bioelectromagnetics. 37:382-390, 2016. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  11. Plurilateral Trade Deals: An Alternative for Multilateral Trade Agreements?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Agnes Ghibuțiu

    2016-04-01

    Full Text Available While multilateral trade negotiations under the World Trade Organization (WTO continue to be in impasse, plurilateral trade negotiations – i.e. among a group of WTO members – have intensified in recent years, and also recorded a series of concrete results in liberalizing specific sectors of international trade. Hence, there is a widely shared view that plurilateral trade negotiations could be an alternative for the multilateral ones. This paper aims to answer the following questions: What are plurilateral trade agreements? Which are the reasons behind the surge in plurilateral negotiations in recent years? What are the main achievements in liberalizing trade at the plurilateral level? What are the advantages of plurilateral negotiations relative to multilateral ones, and why are they considered an attractive alternative for negotiations at the multilateral level?

  12. Hydrological challenges to groundwater trading: Lessons from south-west Western Australia

    Science.gov (United States)

    Skurray, James H.; Roberts, E. J.; Pannell, David J.

    2012-01-01

    SummaryPerth, Western Australia (pop. 1.6 m) derives 60% of its public water supply from the Gnangara groundwater system (GGS). Horticulture, domestic self-supply, and municipal parks are other major consumers of GGS groundwater. The system supports important wetlands and groundwater-dependent ecosystems. Underlying approximately 2200 km 2 of the Swan Coastal Plain, the GGS comprises several aquifer levels with partial interconnectivity. Supplies of GGS groundwater are under unprecedented stress, due to reduced recharge and increases in extraction. Stored reserves in the superficial aquifer fell by 700 GL between 1979 and 2008. Over a similar period, annual extraction for public supply increased by more than 350% from the system overall. Some management areas are over-allocated by as much as 69%. One potential policy response is a trading scheme for groundwater use. There has been only limited trading between GGS irrigators. Design and implementation of a robust groundwater trading scheme faces hydrological and/or hydro-economic challenges, among others. Groundwater trading involves transfers of the right to extract water. The resulting potential for spatial (and temporal) redistribution of the impacts of extraction requires management. Impacts at the respective selling and buying locations may differ in scale and nature. Negative externalities from groundwater trading may be uncertain as well as not monetarily compensable. An ideal groundwater trading scheme would ensure that marginal costs from trades do not exceed marginal benefits, incorporating future effects and impacts on third-parties. If this condition could be met, all transactions would result in constant or improved overall welfare. This paper examines issues that could reduce public welfare if groundwater trading is not subject to well-designed governance arrangements that are appropriate to meeting the above condition. It also outlines some opportunities to address key risks within the design of a

  13. Act locally, trade globally. Emissions trading for climate policy

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    none

    2005-07-01

    Climate policy raises a number of challenges for the energy sector, the most significant being the transition from a high to a low-CO2 energy path in a few decades. Emissions trading has become the instrument of choice to help manage the cost of this transition, whether used at international or at domestic level. Act Locally, Trade Globally, offers an overview of existing trading systems, their mechanisms, and looks into the future of the instrument for limiting greenhouse gas emissions. Are current markets likely to be as efficient as the theory predicts? What is, if any, the role of governments in these markets? Can domestic emissions trading systems be broadened to activities other than large stationary energy uses? Can international emissions trading accommodate potentially diverse types of emissions targets and widely different energy realities across countries? Are there hurdles to linking emissions trading systems based on various design features? Can emissions trading carry the entire burden of climate policy, or will other policy instruments remain necessary? In answering these questions, Act Locally, Trade Globally seeks to provide a complete picture of the future role of emissions trading in climate policy and the energy sector.

  14. Geographic Analysis of Neurosurgery Workforce in Korea

    Science.gov (United States)

    Park, Hye Ran; Park, Sukh Que; Kim, Jae Hyun; Hwang, Jae Chan; Lee, Gwang Soo; Chang, Jae-Chil

    2018-01-01

    Objective In respect of the health and safety of the public, universal access to health care is an issue of the greatest importance. The geographic distribution of doctors is one of the important factors contributing to access to health care. The aim of this study is to assess the imbalances in the geographic distribution of neurosurgeons across Korea. Methods Population data was obtained from the National Statistical Office. We classified geographic groups into 7 metropolitan cities, 78 non-metropolitan cities, and 77 rural areas. The number of doctors and neurosurgeons per 100000 populations in each county unit was calculated using the total number of doctors and neurosurgeons at the country level from 2009 to 2015. The density levels of neurosurgeon and doctor were calculated and depicted in maps. Results Between 2009 and 2015, the number of neurosurgeons increased from 2002 to 2557, and the ratio of neurosurgeons per 100000 populations increased from 4.02 to 4.96. The number of neurosurgeons per 100000 populations was highest in metropolitan cities and lowest in rural areas from 2009 to 2015. A comparison of the geographic distribution of neurosurgeons in 2009 and 2015 showed an increase in the regional gap. The neurosurgeon density was affected by country unit characteristics (p=0.000). Conclusion Distribution of neurosurgeons throughout Korea is uneven. Neurosurgeons are being increasingly concentrated in a limited number of metropolitan cities. This phenomenon will need to be accounted when planning for a supply of neurosurgeons, allocation of resources and manpower, and the provision of regional neurosurgical services. PMID:29354242

  15. Geographic Analysis of Neurosurgery Workforce in Korea.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Park, Hye Ran; Park, Sukh Que; Kim, Jae Hyun; Hwang, Jae Chan; Lee, Gwang Soo; Chang, Jae-Chil

    2018-01-01

    In respect of the health and safety of the public, universal access to health care is an issue of the greatest importance. The geographic distribution of doctors is one of the important factors contributing to access to health care. The aim of this study is to assess the imbalances in the geographic distribution of neurosurgeons across Korea. Population data was obtained from the National Statistical Office. We classified geographic groups into 7 metropolitan cities, 78 non-metropolitan cities, and 77 rural areas. The number of doctors and neurosurgeons per 100000 populations in each county unit was calculated using the total number of doctors and neurosurgeons at the country level from 2009 to 2015. The density levels of neurosurgeon and doctor were calculated and depicted in maps. Between 2009 and 2015, the number of neurosurgeons increased from 2002 to 2557, and the ratio of neurosurgeons per 100000 populations increased from 4.02 to 4.96. The number of neurosurgeons per 100000 populations was highest in metropolitan cities and lowest in rural areas from 2009 to 2015. A comparison of the geographic distribution of neurosurgeons in 2009 and 2015 showed an increase in the regional gap. The neurosurgeon density was affected by country unit characteristics ( p =0.000). Distribution of neurosurgeons throughout Korea is uneven. Neurosurgeons are being increasingly concentrated in a limited number of metropolitan cities. This phenomenon will need to be accounted when planning for a supply of neurosurgeons, allocation of resources and manpower, and the provision of regional neurosurgical services.

  16. The Position of Suitcase Trading in Turkey’s Foreign Trade and Growth-Suitcase Trading Connection

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sinem YAPAR SAÇIK

    2013-12-01

    Full Text Available Suitcase trading which is defined as a purchasing process of merchandises in a country that is implemented by travelers (nonresidents to sell those merchandises in their own country; it has started to take place in balance of payments of Turkey since 1996. After the collapse of USSR in 1991 Turkey became a net exporter in suitcase trading so the country reached significant figures occasionally. In this paper the position of suitcase trading in Turkey’s foreign trade is analyzed in consideration of statistical indicators. According to the findings acquired from the study, suitcase trading is a significant variable for Turkey to have currency and to close foreign deficits. Suitcase trading and growth connection is also analyzed by econometric method which is co-integration test and the result is affirmative. And also it is found that this connection is unilateral causation from growth towards suitcase trading according to the findings of Granger causality test

  17. Turkey’s Foreign Trade as a Driver of Economic Development

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nigyar R. Masumova

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Turkey now is a regional leader due to economic success story of the past decade, changes in the economy's structure and dynamic. Since 1980th foreign trade has become the main driver of the economic growth. Due to liberalization policy Turkey was able to overcome the system crisis. The negative economic trends had contributed to the political instability. That's why it will be interesting to highlight some aspects of Turkish foreign trade policy, which influence the value, geographical and product orientation of foreign trade. Negative balance of trade is the result of its oil import dependence. But the export of goods with more value added has the trend to growth - 30% of exports come to machineries and transport equipments. After the collapse of the USSR Turkish-Russian economic relationship was facing revival. Trade and investment cooperation was developing rapidly. But the conflict of interest during the war in Syria led to growing differences between Russia and Turkey. 24th of November 2015 became a turning point for the Russian-Turkish relations, when Turkish fighter jet F-16 shot down a Russian military jet along the Syrian border. This tragedy had serious consequences for the bilateral economic relations. Huge investment pipeline project "Turkish stream" is freezed, the work of intergovernmental authorities is stopped, certain agricultural goods originated from Turkey is banned to the territory of the Russian Federation. Russia also suspended the visa-free regime for Turkish citizens, all charter flights to Turkey are prohibited. Nevertheless economic sanctions inevitable affect both the Turkish and Russian economies, but Russia is still one of the main partners of Turkey.

  18. Class 1 Areas

    Data.gov (United States)

    U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — A "Class 1" area is a geographic area recognized by the EPA as being of the highest environmental quality and requiring maximum protection. Class I areas are areas...

  19. Geographical influences on content of 10-hydroxy-trans-2-decenoic acid in royal jelly in China.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wei, Wen-Ting; Hu, Yuan-Qiang; Zheng, Huo-Qing; Cao, Lian-Fei; Hu, Fu-Liang; Hepburn, H Randall

    2013-10-01

    The content of 10-hydroxy-trans-2-decenoic acid (10-HDA), a marker compound in royal jelly (RJ), is the most important criterion in grading RJ for commercial trade and varies with its origin. To identify the effect of geographical origin on 10-HDA content in RJ, 138 samples were collected from 19 provinces of China (divided into three groups) produced by either Apis mellifera ligustica Spinola, 1806 or a hybrid of A. m. ligustica and Apis mellifera carnica Pollman, 1879 and analyzed for moisture, sugar, crude protein, ash, acid, and 10-HDA concentration. The results show that RJ from western China has a significantly higher 10-HDA level (2.01 +/- 0.05%) than those from northeastern (1.87 +/- 0.05%) and eastern (1.75 +/- 0.03%) China. RJ secreted by hybrid bees contained more 10-HDA (1.89 +/- 0.03%) than that secreted by A. m. ligustica (1.78 +/- 0.03%). The 10-HDA content of RJ produced during flowering of rape (Brassica campestris L.), lime (Tilia amurensis Ruprecht), and vitex (Vitex negundo L. variety heterophylla (Franch.) Rehder) was 1.92, 1.80, and 1.68%, respectively. The results would be helpful during the process of price determination of RJ by providing some basis of geographical, bee strain, and botanical information for commercial trade.

  20. Cultural and economic determinants of geographical mortality patterns in The Netherlands

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Mackenbach, J. P.; Kunst, A. E.; Looman, C. W.

    1991-01-01

    STUDY OBJECTIVE--The geographical pattern of mortality in The Netherlands is dominated by an area of relatively high mortality in the southern part of the country. The aim was to analyse the background of this geographical mortality pattern in the early 1980s, and its evolution over time since the

  1. Plants and geographical names in Croatia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cargonja, Hrvoje; Daković, Branko; Alegro, Antun

    2008-09-01

    The main purpose of this paper is to present some general observations, regularities and insights into a complex relationship between plants and people through symbolic systems like geographical names on the territory of Croatia. The basic sources of data for this research were maps from atlas of Croatia of the scale 1:100000. Five groups of maps or areas were selected in order to represent main Croatian phytogeographic regions. A selection of toponyms from each of the map was made in which the name for a plant in Croatian language was recognized (phytotoponyms). Results showed that of all plant names recognized in geographical names the most represented are trees, and among them birch and oak the most. Furthermore, an attempt was made to explain the presence of the most represented plant species in the phytotoponyms in the light of general phytogeographical and sociocultural differences and similarities of comparing areas. The findings confirm an expectation that the genera of climazonal vegetation of particular area are the most represented among the phytotoponyms. Nevertheless, there are ample examples where representation of a plant name in the names of human environment can only be ascribed to ethno-linguistic and socio-cultural motives. Despite the reductionist character of applied methodology, this research also points out some advantages of this approach for ethnobotanic and ethnolinguistic studies of greater areas of human environment.

  2. Framework for conducting environmental assessments of trade negotiations

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    2001-02-01

    This document described the complex task of assessing the environmental impacts of trade negotiations with particular emphasis on the framework of the Strategic Environmental Assessment which the Government of Canada will conduct through a systematic process which can identify and evaluate possible and significant environmental impacts of an initiative. The objective of the assessment is to integrate environmental considerations into decision-making processes at the earliest possible stage. The first part of the framework identifies the importance of recognizing environmental considerations of trade and explains how the framework will contribute to environmental policy. The second part of the framework outlines the process and analytical requirements for conducting an environmental assessment of a trade negotiation. Environmental Assessment Committees will be formed by the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, and will include representatives from federal government departments and agencies. All analyses will be conducted in four stages which will include identifying the economic effect of the negotiation, identifying the likely environmental impact of such changes, assessing the significance of the likely environmental impacts, and identifying enhancement/mitigation options to inform the negotiations. The framework is designed to be flexible enough to be used at current and future trade negotiations in the World Trade Organization, the Free Trade Area of the Americas and in bilateral Free Trade Agreements. An environmental assessment of trade negotiations is considered to be an important decision-making tool for promoting sustainable development. 16 refs., 1 tab

  3. Vegetation Changes in the Permafrost Regions of the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau from 1982-2012: Different Responses Related to Geographical Locations and Vegetation Types in High-Altitude Areas.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zhiwei Wang

    Full Text Available The Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau (QTP contains the largest permafrost area in a high-altitude region in the world, and the unique hydrothermal environments of the active layers in this region have an important impact on vegetation growth. Geographical locations present different climatic conditions, and in combination with the permafrost environments, these conditions comprehensively affect the local vegetation activity. Therefore, the responses of vegetation to climate change in the permafrost region of the QTP may be varied differently by geographical location and vegetation condition. In this study, using the latest Global Inventory Modeling and Mapping Studies (GIMMS Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI product based on turning points (TPs, which were calculated using a piecewise linear model, 9 areas within the permafrost region of the QTP were selected to investigate the effect of geographical location and vegetation type on vegetation growth from 1982 to 2012. The following 4 vegetation types were observed in the 9 selected study areas: alpine swamp meadow, alpine meadow, alpine steppe and alpine desert. The research results show that, in these study areas, TPs mainly appeared in 2000 and 2001, and almost 55.1% and 35.0% of the TPs were located in 2000 and 2001. The global standardized precipitation evapotranspiration index (SPEI and 7 meteorological variables were selected to analyze their correlations with NDVI. We found that the main correlative variables to vegetation productivity in study areas from 1982 to 2012 were precipitation, surface downward long-wave radiation and temperature. Furthermore, NDVI changes exhibited by different vegetation types within the same study area followed similar trends. The results show that regional effects rather than vegetation type had a larger impact on changes in vegetation growth in the permafrost regions of the QTP, indicating that climatic factors had a larger impact in the permafrost

  4. National Emissions Trading; Interim Report by the Committee on the Kyoto mechanisms

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    2001-01-01

    By emissions trading is meant that operators eligible for emissions trading can trade in emission rights, which entitle the operator to greenhouse gas emissions. The domestic emissions trading in gases released into the atmosphere would be limited to domestic units and emissions only. Emissions trading does not reduce emissions. Emissions are reduced by investments and changes in lines of action. The role of the national emissions trading depends on the overall national climate programme. Emissions trading - especially if it is connected with quotas imposed on greenhouse gas emissions or with other quantitative restrictions - is a strong instrument of which there is no previous experience in Finland. Compared to mere emission quotas, emissions trading might, however, offer a flexible and cost-efficient means of meeting the emission targets. The Committee thinks that the majority of - and most important - points speak in favour of the option that, if emissions trading is to be taken among the methodology of the climate policy, it is more profitable and more cost-efficient for Finland to use emissions trading as one instrument included in the climate policy together with other countries. The emissions trading area should also include countries that have lower costs of reducing emissions than those of Finland. The Committee does not propose that emissions trading between companies be initiated so as to be applicable in Finland only. If the EU Member States and the Community ratify the Kyoto Protocol and if emissions trading within the EU area begins, Finland will have to consider joining the trading system. If no decisions are made on the EU trading system by the year 2005, or if Finland cannot join it due to an implementation method that would be disadvantageous to Finland, Finland will have to consider joining the emissions trading system especially on the regional level covering the Nordic countries and the Baltic Sea States. Before joining any emissions trading

  5. National Emissions Trading; Interim Report by the Committee on the Kyoto mechanisms

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    2001-01-01

    By emissions trading is meant that operators eligible for emissions trading can trade in emission rights, which entitle the operator to greenhouse gas emissions. The domestic emissions trading in gases released into the atmosphere would be limited to domestic units and emissions only. Emissions trading does not reduce emissions. Emissions are reduced by investments and changes in lines of action. The role of the national emissions trading depends on the overall national climate programme. Emissions trading - especially if it is connected with quotas imposed on greenhouse gas emissions or with other quantitative restrictions - is a strong instrument of which there is no previous experience in Finland. Compared to mere emission quotas, emissions trading might, however, offer a flexible and cost-efficient means of meeting the emission targets. The Committee thinks that the majority of - and most important- points speak in favour of the option that, i emissions trading is to be taken among the methodology of the climate policy, it is more profitable and more cost-efficient for Finland to use emissions trading as one instrument included in the climate policy together with other countries. The emissions trading area should also include countries that have lower costs of reducing emissions than those of Finland. The Committee does not propose that emissions trading between companies be initiated so as to be applicable in Finland only. If the EU Member States and the Community ratify the Kyoto Protocol and if emissions trading within the EU area begins, Finland will have to consider joining the trading system. If no decisions are made on the EU trading system by the year 2005, or if Finland cannot join it due to an implementation method that would be disadvantageous to Finland, Finland will have to consider joining the emissions trading system especially on the regional level covering the Nordic countries and the Baltic Sea States. Before joining any emissions trading

  6. Modeling the live-pig trade network in Georgia: Implications for disease prevention and control.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Esther Andrea Kukielka

    Full Text Available Live pig trade patterns, drivers and characteristics, particularly in backyard predominant systems, remain largely unexplored despite their important contribution to the spread of infectious diseases in the swine industry. A better understanding of the pig trade dynamics can inform the implementation of risk-based and more cost-effective prevention and control programs for swine diseases. In this study, a semi-structured questionnaire elaborated by FAO and implemented to 487 farmers was used to collect data regarding basic characteristics about pig demographics and live-pig trade among villages in the country of Georgia, where very scarce information is available. Social network analysis and exponential random graph models were used to better understand the structure, contact patterns and main drivers for pig trade in the country. Results indicate relatively infrequent (a total of 599 shipments in one year and geographically localized (median Euclidean distance between shipments = 6.08 km; IQR = 0-13.88 km pig movements in the studied regions. The main factors contributing to live-pig trade movements among villages were being from the same region (i.e., local trade, usage of a middleman or a live animal market to trade live pigs by at least one farmer in the village, and having a large number of pig farmers in the village. The identified villages' characteristics and structural network properties could be used to inform the design of more cost-effective surveillance systems in a country which pig industry was recently devastated by African swine fever epidemics and where backyard production systems are predominant.

  7. Managing the marine aquarium trade: revealing the data gaps using ornamental polychaetes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Murray, Joanna M; Watson, Gordon J; Giangrande, Adriana; Licciano, Margherita; Bentley, Matt G

    2012-01-01

    The marine aquarium industry has great potential to generate jobs in low-income coastal communities creating incentives for the maintenance of a healthy coral reef, if effectively managed. In the absence of current monitoring or legislation to govern the trade, baseline information regarding the species, number and source location of animals traded is missing despite being critical for its successful management and sustainability. An industry assessment to establish the number and provenance of species of ornamental polychaetes (sabellids and serpulids) traded was undertaken across UK wholesalers and retailers. Six geographical regions exporting fan worms were identified. Singapore contributed the highest percentage of imports, but of only one worm "type" whereas Bali, the second largest source, supplied five different worm "types". Over 50% of UK retailers were supplied by one wholesaler while the remainder were stocked by a mixture of one other wholesaler and/or direct imports from the source country. We estimate that up to 18,500 ornamental polychaetes (16,980 sabellids and 1,018 serpulids) are sold annually in the UK revealing a drastic underestimation of currently accepted trade figures. Incorrect identification (based on exporting region or visual characteristics) of traded animals exacerbates the inaccuracy in market quantification, although identification of preserved sabellids using published keys proved just as inconclusive with high within-species variability and the potential for new or cryptic species. A re-description of the polychaete groups traded using a combination of molecular and morphological techniques is necessary for effective identification and market quantification. This study provides the first assessment of ornamental polychaetes but more importantly highlights the issues surrounding the collection of baseline information necessary to manage the aquarium trade. We recommend that future management should be community based and site

  8. Managing the marine aquarium trade: revealing the data gaps using ornamental polychaetes.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Joanna M Murray

    Full Text Available The marine aquarium industry has great potential to generate jobs in low-income coastal communities creating incentives for the maintenance of a healthy coral reef, if effectively managed. In the absence of current monitoring or legislation to govern the trade, baseline information regarding the species, number and source location of animals traded is missing despite being critical for its successful management and sustainability. An industry assessment to establish the number and provenance of species of ornamental polychaetes (sabellids and serpulids traded was undertaken across UK wholesalers and retailers. Six geographical regions exporting fan worms were identified. Singapore contributed the highest percentage of imports, but of only one worm "type" whereas Bali, the second largest source, supplied five different worm "types". Over 50% of UK retailers were supplied by one wholesaler while the remainder were stocked by a mixture of one other wholesaler and/or direct imports from the source country. We estimate that up to 18,500 ornamental polychaetes (16,980 sabellids and 1,018 serpulids are sold annually in the UK revealing a drastic underestimation of currently accepted trade figures. Incorrect identification (based on exporting region or visual characteristics of traded animals exacerbates the inaccuracy in market quantification, although identification of preserved sabellids using published keys proved just as inconclusive with high within-species variability and the potential for new or cryptic species. A re-description of the polychaete groups traded using a combination of molecular and morphological techniques is necessary for effective identification and market quantification. This study provides the first assessment of ornamental polychaetes but more importantly highlights the issues surrounding the collection of baseline information necessary to manage the aquarium trade. We recommend that future management should be community

  9. International trade of CITES listed bird species in China.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Linlin; Jiang, Zhigang

    2014-01-01

    Commercial trade of wild birds may devastate wild bird populations. Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) controls the trade of wild species listed in its appendices to avoid these species being threatened by international trade. China used to be one of the major trading countries with significant bird trade with foreign countries; on the other hand, China is a country with unique avian fauna, many Important Bird Areas and critically endangered bird species. What is the role of the country in world wild bird trade? What kind of insights can we extract from trade records for improving future management of wild bird trade in the country? We retrieved and analyzed international trade records of the CITES listed bird species of China from 1981 to 2010 from the CITES Trade Database maintained by United Nations Environment Program and World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC). We found that: (1) International trade of live birds in China peaked during the late 1990s, then decreased to the level before the surge of trade in a few years, the trade dynamics of wild birds may be affected by governmental policy and the outbreak of avian influenza during the period. (2) Most frequently traded CITES Appendix listed birds in China were parrots, most of which were exotic species to the country. (3) Birds were mainly traded for commercial purpose. Exotic birds in trade were mainly captive-bred while the most Chinese birds traded internationally were captured from the wild. Since many bird species in international trade are threatened to extinction, China should take stricter measures on importing of wild-captured birds and should collaborate with the countries of original in the international bird trade to avoid unsustainable harvesting of wild birds. It is urgent for China to carry out population surveys on those domestic bird species once in significant international trade and to make better conservation decisions based on

  10. International Trade of CITES Listed Bird Species in China

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Linlin; Jiang, Zhigang

    2014-01-01

    Commercial trade of wild birds may devastate wild bird populations. Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) controls the trade of wild species listed in its appendices to avoid these species being threatened by international trade. China used to be one of the major trading countries with significant bird trade with foreign countries; on the other hand, China is a country with unique avian fauna, many Important Bird Areas and critically endangered bird species. What is the role of the country in world wild bird trade? What kind of insights can we extract from trade records for improving future management of wild bird trade in the country? We retrieved and analyzed international trade records of the CITES listed bird species of China from 1981 to 2010 from the CITES Trade Database maintained by United Nations Environment Program and World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC). We found that: (1) International trade of live birds in China peaked during the late 1990s, then decreased to the level before the surge of trade in a few years, the trade dynamics of wild birds may be affected by governmental policy and the outbreak of avian influenza during the period. (2) Most frequently traded CITES Appendix listed birds in China were parrots, most of which were exotic species to the country. (3) Birds were mainly traded for commercial purpose. Exotic birds in trade were mainly captive-bred while the most Chinese birds traded internationally were captured from the wild. Since many bird species in international trade are threatened to extinction, China should take stricter measures on importing of wild-captured birds and should collaborate with the countries of original in the international bird trade to avoid unsustainable harvesting of wild birds. It is urgent for China to carry out population surveys on those domestic bird species once in significant international trade and to make better conservation decisions based on

  11. Ukraine's Membership in the World Trade Organization

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sergio Marchi

    2004-02-01

    Full Text Available The WTO is a multilateral organization that seeks to ensure that international trade relations are governed by the rule of law and not by the rule of power. It comprises a network of contractual rules and commitments capable of being monitored and enforced multilaterally. Ukraine’s accession to the WTO has been marked by notable achievements in the areas of legislation and bilateral agreements with member-states regarding market access. Outstanding issues in Ukraine’s accession include agriculture, industry policy, trade-related investment measures (TRIMs, technical barriers to trade (TBT, sanitary and phyto-sanitary (SPS measures, and intellectual property rights. While completion of the process relies on Ukraine’s efforts alone, progress is being made and is expected to reach a successful conclusion.

  12. The ASEAN Free Trade Agreement: impact on trade flows and external trade barriers

    OpenAIRE

    Hector Calvo-Pardo; Caroline Freund; Emanuel Ornelas

    2009-01-01

    Using detailed data on trade and tariffs from 1992-2007, the authors examine how the ASEAN Free Trade Agreement has affected trade with nonmembers and external tariffs facing nonmembers. First, the paper examines the effect of preferential and external tariff reduction on import growth from ASEAN insiders and outsiders across HS 6-digit industries. The analysis finds no evidence that prefe...

  13. 08471 Report -- Geographic Privacy-Aware Knowledge Discovery and Delivery

    OpenAIRE

    Kuijpers, Bart; Pedreschi, Dino; Saygin, Yucel; Spaccapietra, Stefano

    2009-01-01

    The Dagstuhl-Seminar on Geographic Privacy-Aware Knowledge Discovery and Delivery was held during 16 - 21 November, 2008, with 37 participants registered from various countries from Europe, as well as other parts of the world such as United States, Canada, Argentina, and Brazil. Issues in the newly emerging area of geographic knowledge discovery with a privacy perspective were discussed in a week to consolidate some of the research questions. The Dagstuhl program included...

  14. Chinese air pollution embodied in trade

    Science.gov (United States)

    Davis, S. J.

    2014-12-01

    Rapid economic development in China has been accompanied by high levels of air pollution in many areas of China. Although researchers have applied a range of methods to monitor and track pollutant emissions in the atmosphere, studies of the underlying economic and technological drivers of this pollution have received considerably less attention. I will present results of a series of studies that have quantified the air pollutants embodied in goods being traded both within China and internationally. The results show that trade is facilitating the concentration of pollution in less economically developed areas, which in turn export pollution-intensive goods to more affluent areas. However, the export-related pollution itself is sometimes transported long distances; for instance, we have quantified the impacts of the Chinese pollution embodied in internationally-exported goods on air quality in the US. These findings important implications for Chinese efforts to curb CO2 emissions and improve air quality. The research to be presented reflects the efforts of a multiple year, ongoing collaboration among interdisciplinary researchers in China, the US and the UK.

  15. The roles of countries in the international fossil fuel trade: An emergy and network analysis

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zhong, Weiqiong; An, Haizhong; Shen, Lei; Fang, Wei; Gao, Xiangyun; Dong, Di

    2017-01-01

    A better understanding of the roles of countries in the international fossil fuel trade is crucial for trade security and policy optimization. This study aims to provide a new way to quantitatively analyze the roles of countries in the international fossil fuel trade by complex network analysis and Emergy theory. We transform the trade quantity of coal, crude oil and natural gas into emergy and the sum of the three emergies is the emergy of fossil fuel. We build up network models of fossil fuel based on the value of fossil fuel emergy. Then, the top relationships, the central position, the intermediary ability of the countries, and the roles of countries in the trade groups were used to analyze the roles of countries in the international fossil fuel trade network. We choose four countries, the USA, China, Russia and Saudi Arabia, as examples to show the analysis of roles and policy implications. We suggest that the USA and Russia should try to improve their intermediary abilities by diversifying their trade orientations and pay more attention to building up relationships with countries in different communities. China should seek for more tight relationships with other countries to improve its central position, and more pipelines connecting China, Russia, and other Middle Asia countries are needed. As for Saudi Arabia, expanding its industrial chain of crude oil is a better way to deal with the more fierce competition in the market. - Highlights: • Trade amounts of coal, crude oil and natural gas are transformed into Emergy. • Integrated complex network model of international fossil fuel trade is constructed. • Geographical factor is reinforced due to the restriction of transportation cost. • The old pattern is breaking and the new pattern is forming. • Different countries play different roles in international fossil fuel trade network.

  16. Trade Facilitation Provisions in Regional Trade Agreements: Discriminatory or Non-discriminatory?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Innwon Park

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available The RTAs with trade facilitation provisions have been expected to generate a larger net trade-creating effect and complement the discriminatory feature of RTAs but have yet to be empirically proven. Recognizing the limitations of existing studies, we conducted a quantitative analysis on the effects of RTAs with and without trade facilitation provisions on both intra- and extra-bloc trade by using a modified gravity equation. We applied the Poisson Pseudo-Maximum Likelihood (PPML estimation with time varying exporter and importer fixed effect method to panel data consisting of 45,770 country pairs covering 170 countries for 2000-2010. We found that the trade facilitation provisions in existing RTAs are non-discriminatory by generating more intra- and extra-bloc trade in general. In particular, we found that the trade effects of RTAs in the APEC region are much stronger than the general case covering all RTAs in the world. In addition, as we control the trade effect of a country's trade facilitation, which is ranked by the World Bank's logistic performance index, RTAs consisting of trade facilitation provisions are discriminatory for trade in final goods and non-discriminatory for trade in intermediate goods. Overall, we endeavor to "explain," instead of "hypothesizing," why most of the recent RTAs contain trade facilitation provisions, especially in light of the deepening regional interdependence through trade in parts and components under global value chains and support the necessity of multilateralizing RTAs by implementing non-discriminatory trade facilitation provisions.

  17. Evolution of research in health geographics through the International Journal of Health Geographics (2002-2015).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pérez, Sandra; Laperrière, Vincent; Borderon, Marion; Padilla, Cindy; Maignant, Gilles; Oliveau, Sébastien

    2016-01-20

    Health geographics is a fast-developing research area. Subjects broached in scientific literature are most varied, ranging from vectorial diseases to access to healthcare, with a recent revival of themes such as the implication of health in the Smart City, or a predominantly individual-centered approach. Far beyond standard meta-analyses, the present study deliberately adopts the standpoint of questioning space in its foundations, through various authors of the International Journal of Health Geographics, a highly influential journal in that field. The idea is to find space as the common denominator in this specialized literature, as well as its relation to spatial analysis, without for all that trying to tend towards exhaustive approaches. 660 articles have being published in the journal since launch, but 359 articles were selected based on the presence of the word "Space" in either the title, or the abstract or the text over 13 years of the journal's existence. From that database, a lexical analysis (tag cloud) reveals the perception of space in literature, and shows how approaches are evolving, thus underlining that the scope of health geographics is far from narrowing.

  18. Trading CO2 emission; Verhandelbaarheid van CO2-emissies

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    De Waal, J.F.; Looijenga, A.; Moor, R.; Wissema, E.W.J. [Afdeling Energie, Ministerie van VROM, The Hague (Netherlands)

    2000-06-01

    Systems for CO2-emission trading can take many shapes as developments in Europe show. European developments for emission trading tend to comprehend cap and-trade systems for large emission sources. In the Netherlands a different policy is in preparation. A trading system for sheltered sectors with an option to buy reductions from exposed sectors will be further developed by a Commission, appointed by the minister of environment. Exposed sectors are committed to belong to the top of the world on the area of energy-efficiency. The authors point out that a cap on the distribution of energy carriers natural gas, electricity and fuel seems to be an interesting option to shape the trade scheme. A cap on the distribution of electricity is desirable, but not easy to implement. The possible success of the system depends partly on an experiment with emission reductions. 10 refs.

  19. Tunable locally-optimal geographical forwarding in wireless sensor networks with sleep-wake cycling nodes

    OpenAIRE

    Naveen, K. P.; Kumar, A.

    2009-01-01

    We consider a wireless sensor network whose main function is to detect certain infrequent alarm events, and to forward alarm packets to a base station, using geographical forwarding. The nodes know their locations, and they sleep-wake cycle, waking up periodically but not synchronously. In this situation, when a node has a packet to forward to the sink, there is a trade-off between how long this node waits for a suitable neighbor to wake up and the progress the packet makes towards the sink o...

  20. The Customs Regulation of Export-Import Operations in the Context of the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area between Ukraine and the EU

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kuzmin Oleh Ye.

    2017-05-01

    Full Text Available The article is concerned with the problems of reforming the customs regulation of export-import operations in the context of the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area between Ukraine and the EU. Both the goods and the territorial structures of Ukraine’s export-import activities with the EU Member States were analyzed. Trends in the cooperation of the foreign economic actors in the Lviv region with the EU counterparts were explored. The key activities carried out in Ukraine in the sphere of customs regulation in the context of implementation of the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area between Ukraine and the EU have been outlined and characterized, in particular: administration of tariff quotas, issuance of certificates by the customs authorities for the transport of EUR 1 goods, granting of the status of authorized exporter to economic entities, launching of an automated system of customs services «One-stop window», transition to electronic declaration, etc. The results, problematic issues and benefits of implementing the above activities in the sphere of customs regulation of the export-import activities of enterprises have been characterized.

  1. The Supply of Trade Credit by Brazilian Publicly Traded Firms

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rafael Felipe Schiozer

    2011-12-01

    Full Text Available This paper investigates the determinants of trade credit supply by Brazilian publicly traded companies between the years of 2005 and 2008. International literature (both theoretical and empirical documents that the main determinants of trade credit supply are the size of the firm and the size of its debt. Both indicate that the availability of resources to the firm is an important factor for the supply of trade credit. In addition, the literature confirms strategic uses of trade credit such as those for price discrimination purposes. The results obtained using a sample of 157 Brazilian companies do not support that size and indebtedness are relevant determinants for trade credit supply, but they confirm the supply of trade credit as a strategic tool for the firms. Additionally we observed a significant decrease in trade credit supply in 2008, the year in which a severe international financial crisis took place.

  2. Risk management of infrastructure development in border area Indonesia - Malaysia

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fitri, Suryani; Trikariastoto, Reinita, Ita

    2017-11-01

    Border area is geographically adjacent to neighboring countries with the primary function of maintaining state sovereignty and public welfare. Area in question is part of the provinces, districts or cities that directly intersect with national boundaries (or territory) and / or that have a functional relationship (linkage) and has a strategic value for the state. The border area is considered strategic because it involves the national lives of many people in terms of the interests of political, economic, social and cultural as well as defense and security (poleksosbudhankam) both located on land, sea or air. The border area is geographically adjacent to neighboring countries with the primary function of maintaining state sovereignty and public welfare. Area in question is part of the provinces, districts or cities that directly intersect with national boundaries (or territory) and / or that have a functional relationship (linkage) and has a strategic value for the state. To realize the necessary research on the development of the area, based on good practices from other countries some of the city that can meet all these challenges and at least can be applied with minor changes / adjustments. Furthermore, the application must be supported by the availability of funds. This study to discuss about any problems either obstacles or things that drive to develop function becomes an ideal border area with major support infrastructure for housing, transportation, energy availability, and distribution of clean water which will strengthen in its function which consists of five pillars, namely: central community service; trade and distribution center; financial center; tourism center; related to the field of community development. Articulation between key stakeholders such as government, private, and community is a major concern in this study, including in determining the appropriate financing schemes. The results of this study will be recommended to the government to improve

  3. Prerequisites for Setting Up Management System in Municipal Retail Trade

    Science.gov (United States)

    Suraeva, Maria O.; Grigoryants, Igor A.; Karpova, Galina A.; Khoreva, Lyubov V.; Schreyer, Alexander V.; Sirotkin, Victor A.

    2016-01-01

    The relevance of the research problem Urban district, management, trade, sales network is determined by the number of complex problems that exist in present Samara municipal retail trade system, which is manifested in the lack of regulation, a glut of sales area, and poorly developed infrastructure. The purpose of this article is to form a…

  4. Geographic Names

    Data.gov (United States)

    Minnesota Department of Natural Resources — The Geographic Names Information System (GNIS), developed by the United States Geological Survey in cooperation with the U.S. Board of Geographic Names, provides...

  5. Short communication: Conservation of Streptococcus uberis adhesion molecule and the sua gene in strains of Streptococcus uberis isolated from geographically diverse areas.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yuan, Ying; Dego, Oudessa Kerro; Chen, Xueyan; Abadin, Eurife; Chan, Shangfeng; Jory, Lauren; Kovacevic, Steven; Almeida, Raul A; Oliver, Stephen P

    2014-12-01

    The objective was to identify and sequence the sua gene (GenBank no. DQ232760; http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/genbank/) and detect Streptococcus uberis adhesion molecule (SUAM) expression by Western blot using serum from naturally S. uberis-infected cows in strains of S. uberis isolated in milk from cows with mastitis from geographically diverse areas of the world. All strains evaluated yielded a 4.4-kb sua-containing PCR fragment that was subsequently sequenced. Deduced SUAM AA sequences from those S. uberis strains evaluated shared >97% identity. The pepSUAM sequence located at the N terminus of SUAM was >99% identical among strains of S. uberis. Streptococcus uberis adhesion molecule expression was detected in all strains of S. uberis tested. These results suggest that sua is ubiquitous among strains of S. uberis isolated from diverse geographic locations and that SUAM is immunogenic. Copyright © 2014 American Dairy Science Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  6. Paris in the spring: A review of the trade, conservation and opportunities in the shift from wild harvest to cultivation of Paris polyphylla (Trilliaceae).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cunningham, A B; Brinckmann, J A; Bi, Y-F; Pei, S-J; Schippmann, U; Luo, P

    2018-08-10

    P. polyphylla Smith is used in traditional medicine in China, India and Nepal and is likely to be similarly used through most of its geographic range. China is at the centre of demand for P. polyphylla where it is used as an ingredient in several very successful Chinese medicinal herbal formulations. The Chinese e-commerce platform 'alibaba.com', for example, lists 97 P. polyphylla items offered by 46 Asian suppliers, of which 21 are situated in the Chinese mainland, 12 in Nepal, 7 in India, 2 in Pakistan, and 1 each in Bhutan, Hong Kong, Thailand, and Vietnam. Products offered include the crude drug (dried whole or cut rhizomes), extracts and formulations containing this herbal drug. The aims of this review were to assess the scale of the P. polyphylla trade, reviewing evidence on the impacts of wild harvest on P. polyphylla populations and on the role of cultivation as an alternative to wild harvest. Firstly, we reviewed published information on Paris population biology and studies on impacts of wild P. polyphylla harvest from across the geographic range of this species. Secondly, global trade data for P. polyphylla were analysed. Thirdly, we reviewed published information on P. polyphylla cultivation and made field visits to P. polyphylla cultivation areas in Yunnan and Sichuan. Since the 1980s, there has been a 400-fold increase in the market price paid in China for P. polyphylla rhizomes, from 2.7 Chinese Yuan (CNY) per kg in the 1980s to market prices up to 1100 CNY per kg in 2017. Cross-border trade in dried P. polyphylla rhizomes occurs at three different scales. Firstly, an internal, national trade of P. polyphylla rhizomes within countries (such as India, Nepal and China). Secondly, trade in P. polyphylla rhizomes from Nepal (and possibly from Bhutan) to the two range states that have the largest traditional medicine trade in the world: China and India. Thirdly, trade in processed herbal products. In China, for example, P. polyphylla is widely used as

  7. A review of geographic variation and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) applications in prescription drug use research.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wangia, Victoria; Shireman, Theresa I

    2013-01-01

    While understanding geography's role in healthcare has been an area of research for over 40 years, the application of geography-based analyses to prescription medication use is limited. The body of literature was reviewed to assess the current state of such studies to demonstrate the scale and scope of projects in order to highlight potential research opportunities. To review systematically how researchers have applied geography-based analyses to medication use data. Empiric, English language research articles were identified through PubMed and bibliographies. Original research articles were independently reviewed as to the medications or classes studied, data sources, measures of medication exposure, geographic units of analysis, geospatial measures, and statistical approaches. From 145 publications matching key search terms, forty publications met the inclusion criteria. Cardiovascular and psychotropic classes accounted for the largest proportion of studies. Prescription drug claims were the primary source, and medication exposure was frequently captured as period prevalence. Medication exposure was documented across a variety of geopolitical units such as countries, provinces, regions, states, and postal codes. Most results were descriptive and formal statistical modeling capitalizing on geospatial techniques was rare. Despite the extensive research on small area variation analysis in healthcare, there are a limited number of studies that have examined geographic variation in medication use. Clearly, there is opportunity to collaborate with geographers and GIS professionals to harness the power of GIS technologies and to strengthen future medication studies by applying more robust geospatial statistical methods. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  8. Geographic Analysis of the Radiation Oncology Workforce

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Aneja, Sanjay [Department of Therapeutic Radiology, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT (United States); Cancer Outcomes, Policy, and Effectiveness Research Center at Yale, New Haven, CT (United States); Smith, Benjamin D. [University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX (United States); Gross, Cary P. [Cancer Outcomes, Policy, and Effectiveness Research Center at Yale, New Haven, CT (United States); Department of General Internal Medicine, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT (United States); Wilson, Lynn D. [Department of Therapeutic Radiology, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT (United States); Haffty, Bruce G. [Cancer Institute of New Jersey, New Brunswick, NJ (United States); Roberts, Kenneth [Department of Therapeutic Radiology, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT (United States); Yu, James B., E-mail: james.b.yu@yale.edu [Department of Therapeutic Radiology, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT (United States); Cancer Outcomes, Policy, and Effectiveness Research Center at Yale, New Haven, CT (United States)

    2012-04-01

    Purpose: To evaluate trends in the geographic distribution of the radiation oncology (RO) workforce. Methods and Materials: We used the 1995 and 2007 versions of the Area Resource File to map the ratio of RO to the population aged 65 years or older (ROR) within different health service areas (HSA) within the United States. We used regression analysis to find associations between population variables and 2007 ROR. We calculated Gini coefficients for ROR to assess the evenness of RO distribution and compared that with primary care physicians and total physicians. Results: There was a 24% increase in the RO workforce from 1995 to 2007. The overall growth in the RO workforce was less than that of primary care or the overall physician workforce. The mean ROR among HSAs increased by more than one radiation oncologist per 100,000 people aged 65 years or older, from 5.08 per 100,000 to 6.16 per 100,000. However, there remained consistent geographic variability concerning RO distribution, specifically affecting the non-metropolitan HSAs. Regression analysis found higher ROR in HSAs that possessed higher education (p = 0.001), higher income (p < 0.001), lower unemployment rates (p < 0.001), and higher minority population (p = 0.022). Gini coefficients showed RO distribution less even than for both primary care physicians and total physicians (0.326 compared with 0.196 and 0.292, respectively). Conclusions: Despite a modest growth in the RO workforce, there exists persistent geographic maldistribution of radiation oncologists allocated along socioeconomic and racial lines. To solve problems surrounding the RO workforce, issues concerning both gross numbers and geographic distribution must be addressed.

  9. Geographic Analysis of the Radiation Oncology Workforce

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Aneja, Sanjay; Smith, Benjamin D.; Gross, Cary P.; Wilson, Lynn D.; Haffty, Bruce G.; Roberts, Kenneth; Yu, James B.

    2012-01-01

    Purpose: To evaluate trends in the geographic distribution of the radiation oncology (RO) workforce. Methods and Materials: We used the 1995 and 2007 versions of the Area Resource File to map the ratio of RO to the population aged 65 years or older (ROR) within different health service areas (HSA) within the United States. We used regression analysis to find associations between population variables and 2007 ROR. We calculated Gini coefficients for ROR to assess the evenness of RO distribution and compared that with primary care physicians and total physicians. Results: There was a 24% increase in the RO workforce from 1995 to 2007. The overall growth in the RO workforce was less than that of primary care or the overall physician workforce. The mean ROR among HSAs increased by more than one radiation oncologist per 100,000 people aged 65 years or older, from 5.08 per 100,000 to 6.16 per 100,000. However, there remained consistent geographic variability concerning RO distribution, specifically affecting the non-metropolitan HSAs. Regression analysis found higher ROR in HSAs that possessed higher education (p = 0.001), higher income (p < 0.001), lower unemployment rates (p < 0.001), and higher minority population (p = 0.022). Gini coefficients showed RO distribution less even than for both primary care physicians and total physicians (0.326 compared with 0.196 and 0.292, respectively). Conclusions: Despite a modest growth in the RO workforce, there exists persistent geographic maldistribution of radiation oncologists allocated along socioeconomic and racial lines. To solve problems surrounding the RO workforce, issues concerning both gross numbers and geographic distribution must be addressed.

  10. NOx emissions trading: Precursor to future growth

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Colella, A.

    1993-01-01

    Title I of the Clean Air Act Amendments (CAAA) of 1990 specified the framework for enhanced regulation in ozone non-attainment areas with increasingly stringent requirements dependent on the area classification - marginal, moderate, serious, severe or extreme. Before the CAAA were passed, only volatile organic compounds (VOCs) were regulated as precursors to ozone formation, Now, by statute, emissions of nitrogen oxides (NO x ) are also regulated as ozone precursor. Under the CAAA, new sources and modifications of existing sources are subject to Title I permitting requirements in ozone non-attainment areas if emissions of NO x and/or VOCs exceed certain triggering levels. For many new or facility expansion projects, especially power generation, the NO x thresholds are easily exceeded thus triggering Title I non-attainment new source review which requires application of control technology to new equipment which results in the Lowest Achievable Emission Rate (LAER), and securing emission reductions either internally or from other major sources to offset the increased emission from the new or modified source. The selection of a LAER technology is generally within an applicant's control. An applicant can determine up-front the engineering and cost considerations associated with LAER technology is assessing a project's viability. However, without a clear source of emission offsets of a means to secure them, assessing project viability could be difficult if not impossible. No available emission offsets means no industrial growth. For sources of NO x undergoing Title I new source review, a regional or state banking system that facilitates NO x emissions trading is needed as a precursor to future growth. This paper presents an overview of EPA's Emissions Trading Policy and Title I new source review offset provisions. Industry's concerns about emissions trading and recommendations for future trading programs are presented

  11. Insider trading

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Maslechko, W.S.

    1998-01-01

    The policy arguments for and against prohibiting insider trading within the petroleum industry are discussed. Legal definitions of all relevant terms (e.g. 'special relationship' 'tippees', 'material facts', material changes' 'generally disclosed' information', 'necessary course of business') are provided. Enforcement of insider trading/tipping prohibitions are also defined. The recommended practice is: do not trade; do not tell or advise; encourage timely disclosure; do not speculate; implement a corporate disclosure and trading policy

  12. Habitat area and climate stability determine geographical variation in plant species range sizes

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Morueta-Holme, Naia; Enquist, Brian J.; McGill, Brian J.

    2013-01-01

    Despite being a fundamental aspect of biodiversity, little is known about what controls species range sizes. This is especially the case for hyperdiverse organisms such as plants. We use the largest botanical data set assembled to date to quantify geographical variation in range size for ~85,000 ...

  13. Tanzanian food origins and protected geographical indications

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    John, Innocensia Festo; Egelyng, Henrik; Lokina, Azack

    2016-01-01

    As the world's population is constantly growing, food security will remain on the policy Agenda, particularly in Africa. At the same time, global food systems experience a new wave focusing on local foods and food sovereignty featuring high quality food products of verifiable geographical origin...... of food origin products in Tanzania that have potential for GI certification. The hypothesis was that there are origin products in Tanzania whose unique characteristics are linked to the area of production. Geographical indications can be useful policy instruments contributing to food security...... the diversity of supply of natural and unique quality products and so contribute to enhanced food security....

  14. Additive versus Multiplicative Trade Costs and the Gains from Trade Liberalizations

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Sørensen, Allan

    2014-01-01

    This paper addresses welfare e¤ects from trade liberalization in a Melitz (2003) heterogeneous-…rms trade model including the empirically important per-unit (i.e. additive) trade costs in addition to the conventional iceberg (i.e. multiplicative) and …xed trade costs. The novel contribution...... of the pa- per is the result that the welfare gain for a given increase in trade openness is higher for reductions in per-unit (additive) trade costs than for reductions in iceberg (multiplicative) trade costs. The ranking derives from di¤erences in intra-industry reallocations and in particular from...

  15. Trade Policy Preferences and the Factor Content of Trade

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Jäkel, Ina Charlotte; Smolka, Marcel

    demonstrate that the factor price changes induced by trade policy are negatively correlated with the factor content of free trade (and therefore factor abundance). Using large-scale international survey data, we test whether these predicted distributional effects are reflected in the trade policy preferences...... of workers with different labor market skills. In order to isolate the effects of factor abundance from other skill-related confounding factors, we employ a within-skill-group estimator that exploits the cross-country variation in the factor content of free trade. In line with theory, the data show......This paper provides a theoretical and empirical analysis of public opinion towards free trade, investigating cleavages both between and within countries. We study the distributional effects of trade policy in a neoclassical economy with not just two, but many input factors in production. We...

  16. Characterization of class 1 integrons associated with R-plasmids in clinical Aeromonas salmonicida isolates from various geographical areas

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Schmidt, A.S.; Bruun, Morten Sichlau; Larsen, J.L.

    2001-01-01

    Class 1 integrons were found in 26 of 40 antibiotic-resistant isolates of the fish pathogen Aeromonas salmonicida from Northern Europe and North America. Three different dhfr genes, conferring trimethoprim resistance, and one ant(3 " )1a aminoglycoside resistance gene were identified as gene...... inserts. The gene cassettes tended to be conserved among isolates from a particular geographical area. Nineteen isolates transferred R- plasmids carrying different tet determinants to Escherichia coli in filter mating assays, and in 15 cases, the class 1 integrons were co-transferred. Transferable...... sulphadiazine, trimethoprim and streptomycin resistances were invariably encoded by integrons. It thus appears that integron-encoded antibiotic resistance genes contribute substantially to the horizontal spread of antimicrobial resistance within this species, being associated with conjugative plasmids....

  17. Free trade or just trade? The world trade organisation, human rights ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    The author critically examines the role of the World Trade Organisation (WTO). In recent years, it is noted, the organisation's agenda of trade liberalisation, its perceived lack of accountability and insensitivity to human rights have attracted intense criticism. It has been asserted that provisions of WTO agreements concerning ...

  18. Trade structure, trade mode and the urban-rural income gap in China

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hao Wei

    2013-05-01

    Full Text Available This paper analyses the effect of foreign trade in China on the urban-rural income gap from certain angles including trade scale, trade structure and trade mode at the national and provincial levels. The empirical results indicate that, from the perspective of trade scale, the export and import in the eastern and national regions have an expansion effect on the urban-rural income gap, and, in the central regions, they have a reduction effect. Furthermore, export in the western regions has a reduction effect while import in these regions did not have a significant effect. From the perspective of trade structure, the trade of high-tech products and labour-intensive products in the national and eastern regions has an expansion effect, and the trade of the above-mentioned products in the central regions has a reduction effect. The trade of labour-intensive products in the western regions has a reduction effect, and that of high-tech products an expansion effect. From the perspective of trade mode, processing trade and general trade in the national and eastern regions have an expansion effect, while in the central regions they have a reduction effect. General trade in the western regions would expand the urban-rural income gap, and processing trade does not have a significant effect. Consequently, when the South African Government is working out trade multiplicative and corresponding policy, they should consider the development of foreign trade and should pay attention to the labour market structure.

  19. Virtual water trade of agricultural products: A new perspective to explore the Belt and Road.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Yu; Zhang, Jin-He; Tian, Qing; Liu, Ze-Hua; Zhang, Hong-Lei

    2018-05-01

    The Belt and Road is an initiative of cooperation and development that was proposed by China. Moreover, most of the spanning countries faced water shortages and agriculture consumed a lot of water. Virtual water links water, food and trade and is an effective tool to ease water shortages. Therefore, this paper aims to understand the Belt and Road from the new perspective of virtual water trade of agricultural products. We considered agricultural products trade from 2001 to 2015. On the whole, the results indicated that China was in virtual water trade surplus with the countries along the Belt and Road. However, in terms of each country, >40 spanning countries were in virtual water trade surplus with China and eased water shortages. Russia had the largest net imported virtual water from China. Furthermore, the proportion of the grey water footprint that China exported to the spanning countries was much higher than that imported, no matter from the whole or different geographical regions. Moreover, more than half of the countries' virtual water trade with China conformed to the virtual water strategy, which helped to ease water crises. Furthermore, the products that they exported to China were mainly advantageous products that each spanning countries have. Virtual water trade is a new perspective to explore the Belt and Road. Agricultural products trade with China definitely benefits both the countries along the Belt and Road and China from the perspective of virtual water. The findings are beneficial for the water management of the countries along the Belt and Road and China, alleviating water shortages, encouraging the rational allocation of water resources in the various departments. They can provide references for optimizing trade structures as well. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  20. Time-Space Trade-Offs

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Pagter, Jakob Illeborg

    . The area of time-space trade-offs deals with both upper and lower bounds and both are interesting, theoretically as well as practically. The viewpoint of this dissertation is theoretical, but we believe that some of our results can find applications in practice as well. The last four years has witnessed...... perspective hierarchical memory layout models are the most interesting. Such models are called external memory models, in contrast to the internal memory models discussed above. Despite the fact that space might be of great relevance when solving practical problems on real computers, no theoretical model...... capturing space (and time simultaneously) has been defined. We introduce such a model and use it to prove so-called IOspace trade-offs for Sorting. Building on the abovementioned techniques for time-space efficient internal memory Sorting, we develop the first IO-space efficient external memory Sorting...

  1. [Geographic data for Neotropical bats (Chiroptera)].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Noguera-Urbano, Elkin A; Escalante, Tania

    2014-03-01

    The global effort to digitize biodiversity occurrence data from collections, museums and other institutions has stimulated the development of important tools to improve the knowledge and conservation of biodiversity. The Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) enables and opens access to biodiversity data of 321 million of records, from 379 host institutions. Neotropical bats are a highly diverse and specialized group, and the geographic information about them is increasing since few years ago, but there are a few reports about this topic. The aim of this study was to analyze the number of digital records in GBIF of Neotropical bats with distribution in 21 American countries, evaluating their nomenclatural and geographical consistence at scale of country. Moreover, we evaluated the gaps of information on 1 degrees latitude x 1 degrees longitude grids cells. There were over 1/2 million records, but 58% of them have no latitude and longitude data; and 52% full fit nomenclatural and geographic evaluation. We estimated that there are no records in 54% of the analyzed area; the principal gaps are in biodiversity hotspots like the Colombian and Brazilian Amazonia and Southern Venezuela. In conclusion, our study suggests that available data on GBIF have nomenclatural and geographic biases. GBIF data represent partially the bat species richness and the main gaps in information are in South America.

  2. Geographic Media Literacy

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lukinbeal, Chris

    2014-01-01

    While the use of media permeates geographic research and pedagogic practice, the underlying literacies that link geography and media remain uncharted. This article argues that geographic media literacy incorporates visual literacy, information technology literacy, information literacy, and media literacy. Geographic media literacy is the ability…

  3. The hidden hyperbolic geometry of international trade: World Trade Atlas 1870-2013.

    Science.gov (United States)

    García-Pérez, Guillermo; Boguñá, Marián; Allard, Antoine; Serrano, M Ángeles

    2016-09-16

    Here, we present the World Trade Atlas 1870-2013, a collection of annual world trade maps in which distance combines economic size and the different dimensions that affect international trade beyond mere geography. Trade distances, based on a gravity model predicting the existence of significant trade channels, are such that the closer countries are in trade space, the greater their chance of becoming connected. The atlas provides us with information regarding the long-term evolution of the international trade system and demonstrates that, in terms of trade, the world is not flat but hyperbolic, as a reflection of its complex architecture. The departure from flatness has been increasing since World War I, meaning that differences in trade distances are growing and trade networks are becoming more hierarchical. Smaller-scale economies are moving away from other countries except for the largest economies; meanwhile those large economies are increasing their chances of becoming connected worldwide. At the same time, Preferential Trade Agreements do not fit in perfectly with natural communities within the trade space and have not necessarily reduced internal trade barriers. We discuss an interpretation in terms of globalization, hierarchization, and localization; three simultaneous forces that shape the international trade system.

  4. Use of geographic information systems and spatial analysis in area-wide integrated pest management programmes that integrate the sterile insect technique

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Cox, J.St.H.; Vreysen, M.J.B.

    2005-01-01

    The advantages that geographic information systems (GIS) and associated technologies can offer, in terms of the design and implementation of area-wide programmes of insect and/or disease suppression, are becoming increasingly recognised, even if the realization of this potential has not been fully exploited and for some area-wide programmes adoption appears to be progressing slowly. This chapter provides a basic introduction to the science of GIS, Global Positioning System (GPS), and satellite remote sensing (RS), and reviews the principal ways in which these technologies can be used to assist various stages of development of the sterile insect technique (SIT) as part of area-wide integrated pest management (AW-IPM) programmes - from the selection of project sites, and feasibility assessments and planning of pre-intervention surveys, to the monitoring and analysis of insect suppression programmes, and the release of sterile insects. Potential barriers to the successful deployment of GIS tools are also discussed. (author)

  5. SUSTAINABLE ECONOMIC GROWTH THROUGH EXTERNAL TRADE

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Valentina Vasile

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available A country’s economic growth is directly influenced by the external trade activity, which is considered by the majority of economists as one of the main engines of a country. How international trade can contributes to a sustainable development of a country depends broadly on the economic policies as well as on global and regional strategies to support the actions for this objective. The high level political meeting of United Nations Organization’s Member States in September 2015 has as aim the adoption of 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, which includes global economic, social and environmental goals. Any strategy or global policy influences, of course, in a direct way the international trade activities, by how these measures affect or determine relations between states to achieve the sustainable development objectives. Being involved in all sectors of economic and social life to achieve these noble goals, foreign trade is of course on the list of key areas as well as on the list of the domains being influenced by the global strategy adopted in the framework of the largest summit of its kind in the history of the United Nations. The aim of this paper is to provide an overview of external trade activity of Romania, taking into account the characteristics of companies involved in exports and imports of goods in Romania as well as to identify the key areas to be further developed for a sustainable development of national economy based on export activity. Romania's sustainable development can be achieved in the medium and long term by complementary and converging actions such as increased expenditure on research and development field, attracting as a priority the Greenfield investments, increasing productivity of national capital (human, natural, technological or ensure the efficiency at microeconomic and macroeconomic level. Increasing the share of products and activities using a small amount of energy and material resources but which

  6. Uncovering the spatially distant feedback loops of global trade: A network and input-output approach.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Prell, Christina; Sun, Laixiang; Feng, Kuishuang; He, Jiaying; Hubacek, Klaus

    2017-05-15

    Land-use change is increasingly driven by global trade. The term "telecoupling" has been gaining ground as a means to describe how human actions in one part of the world can have spatially distant impacts on land and land-use in another. These interactions can, over time, create both direct and spatially distant feedback loops, in which human activity and land use mutually impact one another over great expanses. In this paper, we develop an analytical framework to clarify spatially distant feedbacks in the case of land use and global trade. We use an innovative mix of multi-regional input-output (MRIO) analysis and stochastic actor-oriented models (SAOMs) for analyzing the co-evolution of changes in trade network patterns with those of land use, as embodied in trade. Our results indicate that the formation of trade ties and changes in embodied land use mutually impact one another, and further, that these changes are linked to disparities in countries' wealth. Through identifying this feedback loop, our results support ongoing discussions about the unequal trade patterns between rich and poor countries that result in uneven distributions of negative environmental impacts. Finally, evidence for this feedback loop is present even when controlling for a number of underlying mechanisms, such as countries' land endowments, their geographical distance from one another, and a number of endogenous network tendencies. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  7. Verifying the geographic origin of mahogany (Swietenia macrophylla King) with DNA-fingerprints.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Degen, B; Ward, S E; Lemes, M R; Navarro, C; Cavers, S; Sebbenn, A M

    2013-01-01

    Illegal logging is one of the main causes of ongoing worldwide deforestation and needs to be eradicated. The trade in illegal timber and wood products creates market disadvantages for products from sustainable forestry. Although various measures have been established to counter illegal logging and the subsequent trade, there is a lack of practical mechanisms for identifying the origin of timber and wood products. In this study, six nuclear microsatellites were used to generate DNA fingerprints for a genetic reference database characterising the populations of origin of a large set of mahogany (Swietenia macrophylla King, Meliaceae) samples. For the database, leaves and/or cambium from 1971 mahogany trees sampled in 31 stands from Mexico to Bolivia were genotyped. A total of 145 different alleles were found, showing strong genetic differentiation (δ(Gregorious)=0.52, F(ST)=0.18, G(ST(Hedrick))=0.65) and clear correlation between genetic and spatial distances among stands (r=0.82, P<0.05). We used the genetic reference database and Bayesian assignment testing to determine the geographic origins of two sets of mahogany wood samples, based on their multilocus genotypes. In both cases the wood samples were assigned to the correct country of origin. We discuss the overall applicability of this methodology to tropical timber trading. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

  8. The globalization of international oilseeds trade

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mittaine Jean-François

    2012-09-01

    Full Text Available In a globalised world, the trade of goods and services constitute the heart of the economic system. But the trade patterns may show extreme diversity depending upon the nature of the concerned products. The technical and functional constraints do impose their laws, particularly when they relate to biological products/commodities. The term globalization is generally used to describe a complex process of international integration. When referring to oilseeds, the term must also relate to agriculture and human nutritional requirements for a rising human population spread all over the world, particularly in large urban environment. With an annual harvest of about 450 Mn T, oilseeds are naturally “globalized” in their production patterns. The complexity of their production schemes associated with the diversity of their usage on widespread geographical regions gives this group of commodities a unique role on the world markets. This process of opened trade channels has enabled the sector to meet the supply requirements of a quickly rising demand coming from both the population and all the industrial usages including alternative “green” energy. However, for the time being, demand growth has not been fully counter-balanced by production growth. As a consequence, unless some strict reallocation of acreage is effectively organized or new high yielding technologies are developed, it is a fact that vegetable oil will keep a strong demand base for a long time, compounded by the mechanical demand from economic growth in highly populated emerging economies. The balancing of supply and demand is expected to remain a tight exercise every year. At the end of the day, the future of the entire industry largely lies in technology because the final stake is to ensure the proper feeding of a 9 billion people population in a not too far future.

  9. Asexual propagation of sea anemones that host anemonefishes: implications for the marine ornamental aquarium trade and restocking programs.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Anna Scott

    Full Text Available Anemonefishes and their host sea anemones form an iconic symbiotic association in reef environments, and are highly sought after in the marine aquarium trade. This study examines asexual propagation as a method for culturing a geographically widespread and commonly traded species of host sea anemone, Entacmaea quadricolor. Two experiments were done: the first to establish whether size or colour morph influenced survival after cutting into halves or quarters; and the second to see whether feeding was needed to maximise survival and growth after cutting. Survival rates were high in both experiments, with 89.3 and 93.8% of the anemones cut in half, and 62.5 and 80.4% cut in quarters surviving in experiments 1 and 2, respectively. Anemones that were cut in half were larger in size, and healed and grew quicker than those cut in quarters. However, even though survival was lower when the individuals were cut in quarters, this treatment produced the greatest number of anemones. Feeding increased oral disc diameter growth and reduced wet weight loss, but did not significantly influence pedal disc diameter. Given that the anemones took up to 56 d to form an off-centre mouth, it is highly likely that feeding may have produced greater effect if the experiment was run for longer. This low technology method of propagation could be used to produce individuals throughout the year and the anemones could then be used to supply the aquarium trade or restock depleted habitats, thus supporting biodiversity conservation in coral reef areas.

  10. Asexual propagation of sea anemones that host anemonefishes: implications for the marine ornamental aquarium trade and restocking programs.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Scott, Anna; Hardefeldt, Jannah M; Hall, Karina C

    2014-01-01

    Anemonefishes and their host sea anemones form an iconic symbiotic association in reef environments, and are highly sought after in the marine aquarium trade. This study examines asexual propagation as a method for culturing a geographically widespread and commonly traded species of host sea anemone, Entacmaea quadricolor. Two experiments were done: the first to establish whether size or colour morph influenced survival after cutting into halves or quarters; and the second to see whether feeding was needed to maximise survival and growth after cutting. Survival rates were high in both experiments, with 89.3 and 93.8% of the anemones cut in half, and 62.5 and 80.4% cut in quarters surviving in experiments 1 and 2, respectively. Anemones that were cut in half were larger in size, and healed and grew quicker than those cut in quarters. However, even though survival was lower when the individuals were cut in quarters, this treatment produced the greatest number of anemones. Feeding increased oral disc diameter growth and reduced wet weight loss, but did not significantly influence pedal disc diameter. Given that the anemones took up to 56 d to form an off-centre mouth, it is highly likely that feeding may have produced greater effect if the experiment was run for longer. This low technology method of propagation could be used to produce individuals throughout the year and the anemones could then be used to supply the aquarium trade or restock depleted habitats, thus supporting biodiversity conservation in coral reef areas.

  11. A Comparative Study of Trade Relations and the Spatial-Temporal Evolution of Geo-Economy between China and Vietnam

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Teng Ma

    2017-06-01

    Full Text Available With the increasing economic importance of the Asia-Pacific Region, the economic interdependence among countries in the region has gradually enhanced. With the continuous opening up of the two countries, Sino-Vietnamese economic relations have also been deepened. However, the export trade between Vietnam and China has been competitive. China and Vietnam seek to dominate or join an agreement that is conducive to their own trade, which also exacerbates the trade competition between the two countries. This paper compares China and Vietnam and analyzes their foreign trade data from 2005 to 2014. By analyzing the competitiveness of export commodities, the trade division effect and spatio-temporal changes of the geo-economic relationship in the Asia-Pacific Region, this study explores Sino-Vietnamese trade relations and compares the pattern of geo-economic evolution between the two countries. The findings show that China and Vietnam have similarities and substitutability in textiles, apparel and footwear in terms of commodity structure. There is already a trade diversion effect between Vietnam and China on these commodities, but it is not substantial. From a geographic perspective, China’s geo-economic relations in the Pacific Rim present an increasingly dispersed trend. However, the spatial pattern of Vietnam’s geo-economy has maintained a low-level and stable spatial agglomeration over the last decade.

  12. Prevalence of emotional and behavioural problems in Johor Bahru District school children--comparing three geographical areas.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cheah, Y C; Kadir, A B; Jeyarajah, S

    1997-06-01

    This is a cross sectional community study in Johor Bahru District. The aim of this study is to estimate the overall prevalence of emotional and behavioural deviance among the school children in three different geographical areas, and to identify their correlates. This paper presents the findings of phase one of a two-stage procedure involving a total of 589 children aged 10-12 years. Using the cut-off point validated locally, the prevalence of deviance on the parental scale was 40% in the rural school, 30.2% in the agricultural resettlement (Felda) school and 32.3% in the urban school. On the teachers' assessment, the prevalence of deviance was 40.8% in the rural school, 10.8% in the Felda School and 8.9% in the urban school. There was significantly higher prevalence of deviance in the rural school on the teachers' scale. In the rural school, significantly higher prevalence of deviance was found among boys.

  13. Insider trading under trading ban regulation in China’s A-share market

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Chafen Zhu

    2015-09-01

    Full Text Available This study examines the effects of China’s 2008 trading ban regulation on the insider trading of large shareholders in China’s A-share market. It finds no evidence of insider trading during the ban period (one month before the announcement of a financial report, due to high regulation risk. However, the ban only constrains the profitability of insider trades during the ban period, while trades outside it remain highly profitable. Informed insider trading before the ban period is 2.83 times more profitable than uninformed trading. The regulation has changed insider trading patterns, but has been ineffective in preventing insider trading by large shareholders due to rigid administrative supervision and a lack of civil litigation and flexible market monitoring. This study enhances understanding of large shareholders’ trading behavior and has important implications for regulators.

  14. Trading emissions improve air quality

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lents, J.M.

    1993-01-01

    While admitting sharply contrasting views exist, James M. Lents of the South Coast Air Quality Management District in southern California sees emissions trading open-quotes as a lifesaver for our troubled planet.close quotes He explains: open-quotes If political support for the environment is to be maintained, we must seek the most economical and flexible means of pursuing cleanup. At present, market incentives and emissions trading represent our best hope.close quotes Lents is putting his money where his pen is. The air quality management district he heads plans to use market incentives, including emissions trading, to reduce air pollution in the notoriously dirty southern California area. When the system goes into operation in 1994, he estimates it will save southern California businesses more than $400 million a year in compliance costs, while also making major improvements in the region's air quality. If the idea works there, why won't it work elsewhere, even on a global scale, Lents asks? He believes it will. But open-quotes the ultimate success of emissions-trading programs, whether regional, national, or international in scope, lies in the proof that they're actually achieving reductions in harmful emissions,close quotes he emphasizes. open-quotes These reductions must be real and verifiable to satisfy the Clean Air Act and a skeptical public.close quotes

  15. Watershed-based point sources permitting strategy and dynamic permit-trading analysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ning, Shu-Kuang; Chang, Ni-Bin

    2007-09-01

    Permit-trading policy in a total maximum daily load (TMDL) program may provide an additional avenue to produce environmental benefit, which closely approximates what would be achieved through a command and control approach, with relatively lower costs. One of the important considerations that might affect the effective trading mechanism is to determine the dynamic transaction prices and trading ratios in response to seasonal changes of assimilative capacity in the river. Advanced studies associated with multi-temporal spatially varied trading ratios among point sources to manage water pollution hold considerable potential for industries and policy makers alike. This paper aims to present an integrated simulation and optimization analysis for generating spatially varied trading ratios and evaluating seasonal transaction prices accordingly. It is designed to configure a permit-trading structure basin-wide and provide decision makers with a wealth of cost-effective, technology-oriented, risk-informed, and community-based management strategies. The case study, seamlessly integrating a QUAL2E simulation model with an optimal waste load allocation (WLA) scheme in a designated TMDL study area, helps understand the complexity of varying environmental resources values over space and time. The pollutants of concern in this region, which are eligible for trading, mainly include both biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) and ammonia-nitrogen (NH3-N). The problem solution, as a consequence, suggests an array of waste load reduction targets in a well-defined WLA scheme and exhibits a dynamic permit-trading framework among different sub-watersheds in the study area. Research findings gained in this paper may extend to any transferable dynamic-discharge permit (TDDP) program worldwide.

  16. Monitoring the impact of trade agreements on national food environments: trade imports and population nutrition risks in Fiji.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ravuvu, Amerita; Friel, Sharon; Thow, Anne-Marie; Snowdon, Wendy; Wate, Jillian

    2017-06-13

    would enable national health interventions to both identify areas of concern, and to ensure that interventions take into account the trade context.

  17. International biodiesel markets. Developments in production and trade

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Lamers, P. [Ecofys Germany, Berlin (Germany)

    2012-01-15

    The global biodiesel market has shown an exponential growth in production and trade across the past decade. Nowadays, more biodiesel than ever before is sourced from abroad and procurement areas - especially of large scale producers and traders - span the globe. While this trend is bound to continue, markets and trade developments are still strongly linked to support and trade policies. Furthermore, the biodiesel industry is strongly linked to other sectors (agriculture and mineral oil industry in particular) and faces significant market disturbances some of which have led to various inefficiencies in the past. Due to the pace of this market development, a methodological assessment and understanding of the numerous influencing factors was needed to reduce uncertainties and risks for those involved. A recently published analysis by Ecofys and the Copernicus Institute, Utrecht University, provided such an analysis. It evaluates how the interaction of domestic policies steered global trade streams towards different markets, in particular in connection to underlying trade policies and additional market forces, over the past decade. It provides robust data on international production and trade volumes which have already served as input to the recently published Special Report on Renewable Energy (SRREN) by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). This market brochure was commissioned by UFOP to build upon the methodologies and findings of Lamers et al. and to provide a picture of the global biodiesel market in 2010/2011. It is structured in six sections: an overview of global production volumes (Section 2); developments of EU (Section 3) and other world (Section 4) markets and (trade) policies; global net trade volumes (Section 5); vegetable oil trade patterns and their link to biodiesel trade (Section 6); Conclusions and Outlook (Section 7)

  18. Trading Agents

    CERN Document Server

    Wellman, Michael

    2011-01-01

    Automated trading in electronic markets is one of the most common and consequential applications of autonomous software agents. Design of effective trading strategies requires thorough understanding of how market mechanisms operate, and appreciation of strategic issues that commonly manifest in trading scenarios. Drawing on research in auction theory and artificial intelligence, this book presents core principles of strategic reasoning that apply to market situations. The author illustrates trading strategy choices through examples of concrete market environments, such as eBay, as well as abst

  19. Soil Survey Geographic (SSURGO) database for Cabezon Area, New Mexico (Sandoval County, New Mexico)

    Data.gov (United States)

    Earth Data Analysis Center, University of New Mexico — This data set is a digital soil survey and generally is the most detailed level of soil geographic data developed by the National Cooperative Soil Survey. The...

  20. The effects of competing trade regimes on bilateral trade flows: case of Serbia

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Predrag Bjelić

    2012-12-01

    Full Text Available The aim of this paper is to investigate the effects of competing trade regimes on Serbian trade with its most significant (traditional partners, like European Union and CEFTA 2006 signatories, and other untraditional trade partners with favourable trade regime, like the USA. To this end, gravity model with bilateral and time effects is estimated by Hausman-Taylor AR(1 instrumental variable estimator, using panel data on bilateral trade between Serbia and its main trade partners during the period 2001-2010. The results indicate that overall level of development and difference in factor endowments stimulate Serbia’s exports, which is in accordance with theoretical foundation that inter-industry trade is predominant in exports of less developed countries. Moreover, competing trade regimes appear as important determinant of Serbia’s trade relations, whereas additional liberalization of trade regime with the USA as untraditional trade partner, even asymmetrical to Serbia’s favour, cannot divert trade flows from traditional partners in the long-run. This could mean that distance plays more prominent role in bilateral trade than the degree of liberalization of trade regimes in case of Serbia. The result could be due to the contemporaneous effects of trade preferences granted to Serbia by the EU and other CEFTA 2006 signatories, main trading partners of Serbia.

  1. International trade in services: A scoping study of services trade and estimates of benefits from services trade liberalisation

    OpenAIRE

    Ballingall, John; Stephenson, John

    2005-01-01

    This is a scoping study. It summarises the dynamics of services trade in the world economy and discusses some of the benefits of services trade liberalisation from a qualitative and quantitative view point. We place particular emphasis on the role and interests of developing and least developed countries in world services trade. The study also provides an overview of services trade in the New Zealand economy, and, in places, highlights aspects of services trade where New Zealand’s interests m...

  2. Groundwater quality mapping using geographic information system ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Spatial variations in ground water quality in the corporation area of Gulbarga City located in the northern part of Karnataka State, India, have been studied using geographic information system (GIS) technique. GIS, a tool which is used for storing, analyzing and displaying spatial data is also used for investigating ground ...

  3. U Plant Geographic Zone Cleanup Prototype

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Romine, L.D.; Leary, K.D.; Lackey, M.B.; Robertson, J.R.

    2006-01-01

    The U Plant geographic zone (UPZ) occupies 0.83 square kilometers on the Hanford Site Central Plateau (200 Area). It encompasses the U Plant canyon (221-U Facility), ancillary facilities that supported the canyon, soil waste sites, and underground pipelines. The UPZ cleanup initiative coordinates the cleanup of the major facilities, ancillary facilities, waste sites, and contaminated pipelines (collectively identified as 'cleanup items') within the geographic zone. The UPZ was selected as a geographic cleanup zone prototype for resolving regulatory, technical, and stakeholder issues and demonstrating cleanup methods for several reasons: most of the area is inactive, sufficient characterization information is available to support decisions, cleanup of the high-risk waste sites will help protect the groundwater, and the zone contains a representative cross-section of the types of cleanup actions that will be required in other geographic zones. The UPZ cleanup demonstrates the first of 22 integrated zone cleanup actions on the Hanford Site Central Plateau to address threats to groundwater, the environment, and human health. The UPZ contains more than 100 individual cleanup items. Cleanup actions in the zone will be undertaken using multiple regulatory processes and decision documents. Cleanup actions will include building demolition, waste site and pipeline excavation, and the construction of multiple, large engineered barriers. In some cases, different cleanup actions may be taken at item locations that are immediately adjacent to each other. The cleanup planning and field activities for each cleanup item must be undertaken in a coordinated and cohesive manner to ensure effective execution of the UPZ cleanup initiative. The UPZ zone cleanup implementation plan (ZCIP) [1] was developed to address the need for a fundamental integration tool for UPZ cleanup. As UPZ cleanup planning and implementation moves forward, the ZCIP is intended to be a living document that will

  4. An efficient and reliable multi-hop geographical broadcast protocol in vehicular ad-hoc networks

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Rajendran, R.; Jongh, J. de

    2013-01-01

    In Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS), disseminating warning messages in a timely and efficient way through wireless short-range communications can save many lives and reduce traffic congestion. A geographical broadcast protocol provides data delivery to specified geographical areas, using

  5. Disparities in Geographic Accessibility of National Cancer Institute Cancer Centers in the United States.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xu, Yanqing; Fu, Cong; Onega, Tracy; Shi, Xun; Wang, Fahui

    2017-11-11

    The National Cancer Institute (NCI) Cancer Centers form the backbone of the cancer care system in the United States since their inception in the early 1970s. Most studies on their geographic accessibility used primitive measures, and did not examine the disparities across urbanicity or demographic groups. This research uses an advanced accessibility method, termed "2-step floating catchment area (2SFCA)" and implemented in Geographic Information Systems (GIS), to capture the degree of geographic access to NCI Cancer Centers by accounting for competition intensity for the services and travel time between residents and the facilities. The results indicate that urban advantage is pronounced as the average accessibility is highest in large central metro areas, declines to large fringe metro, medium metro, small metro, micropolitan and noncore rural areas. Population under the poverty line are disproportionally concentrated in lower accessibility areas. However, on average Non-Hispanic White have the lowest geographic accessibility, followed by Hispanic, Non-Hispanic Black and Asian, and the differences are statistically significant. The "reversed racial disadvantage" in NCI Cancer Center accessibility seems counterintuitive but is consistent with an influential prior study; and it is in contrast to the common observation of co-location of concentration of minority groups and people under the poverty line.

  6. Trade policy and health: from conflicting interests to policy coherence.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Blouin, Chantal

    2007-03-01

    Policy incoherence at the interface between trade policy and health can take many forms, such as international trade commitments that strengthen protection of pharmaceutical patents, or promotion of health tourism that exacerbates the shortage of physicians in rural areas. Focusing on the national policy-making process, we make recommendations regarding five conditions that are necessary, but not sufficient, to ensure that international trade policies are coherent with national health objectives. These conditions are: space for dialogue and joint fact-finding; leadership by ministries of health; institutional mechanisms for coordination; meaningful engagement with stakeholders; and a strong evidence base.

  7. Africa-Asia trade versus Africa's trade with the North: Trends and ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Abstract. This study shows that Europe continues to be Africa's major trading partner given the historical relations and long standing trading arrangements between the two. However, evidence also shows that despite maintaining strong trade linkages with Europe, Africa's trade with Asia has been growing at a much faster ...

  8. Entropy of international trades

    Science.gov (United States)

    Oh, Chang-Young; Lee, D.-S.

    2017-05-01

    The organization of international trades is highly complex under the collective efforts towards economic profits of participating countries given inhomogeneous resources for production. Considering the trade flux as the probability of exporting a product from a country to another, we evaluate the entropy of the world trades in the period 1950-2000. The trade entropy has increased with time, and we show that it is mainly due to the extension of trade partnership. For a given number of trade partners, the mean trade entropy is about 60% of the maximum possible entropy, independent of time, which can be regarded as a characteristic of the trade fluxes' heterogeneity and is shown to be derived from the scaling and functional behaviors of the universal trade-flux distribution. The correlation and time evolution of the individual countries' gross-domestic products and the number of trade partners show that most countries achieved their economic growth partly by extending their trade relationship.

  9. A social-ecological analysis of ecosystem services supply and trade-offs in European wood-pastures

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hartel, Tibor

    2018-01-01

    Wood-pastures are complex social-ecological systems (SES), which are the product of long-term interaction between society and its surrounding landscape. Traditionally characterized by multifunctional low-intensity management that enhanced a wide range of ecosystem services (ES), current farm management has shifted toward more intensive farm models. This study assesses the supply of ES in four study areas dominated by managed wood-pastures in Spain, Sweden, and Romania. On the basis of 144 farm surveys and the use of multivariate techniques, we characterize farm management and structure in the study areas and identify the trade-offs in ES supply associated with this management. We link these trade-offs to multiple factors that characterize the landholding: economic, social, environmental, technological, and governance. Finally, we analyze how landholders’ values and perspectives have an effect on management decisions. Results show a differentiated pattern of ES supply in the four study areas. We identified four types of trade-offs in ES supply that appear depending on what is being promoted by the farm management and that are associated with different dimensions of wood-pasture management: productivity-related trade-offs, crop production–related trade-offs, multifunctionality-related trade-offs, and farm accessibility–related trade-offs. These trade-offs are influenced by complex interactions between the properties of the SES, which have a direct influence on landholders’ perspectives and motivations. The findings of this paper advance the understanding of the dynamics between agroecosystems and society and can inform system-based agricultural and conservation policies. PMID:29732404

  10. Ciguatoxic Potential of Brown-Marbled Grouper in Relation to Fish Size and Geographical Origin

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chan, Thomas Y. K.

    2015-01-01

    To determine the ciguatoxic potential of brown-marbled grouper (Epinephelus fuscoguttatus) in relation to fish size and geographical origin, this review systematically analyzed: 1) reports of large ciguatera outbreaks and outbreaks with description of the fish size; 2) Pacific ciguatoxin (P-CTX) profiles and levels and mouse bioassay results in fish samples from ciguatera incidents; 3) P-CTX profiles and levels and risk of toxicity in relation to fish size and origin; 4) regulatory measures restricting fish trade and fish size preference of the consumers. P-CTX levels in flesh and size dependency of toxicity indicate that the risk of ciguatera after eating E. fuscoguttatus varies with its geographical origin. For a large-sized grouper, it is necessary to establish legal size limits and control measures to protect public health and prevent overfishing. More risk assessment studies are required for E. fuscoguttatus to determine the size threshold above which the risk of ciguatera significantly increases. PMID:26324735

  11. INTERACTION OF TRADE AND FINANCIAL LINKAGES IN THE FREE TRADE ZONES

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    V. Shevchenko

    2014-09-01

    Full Text Available Different models of free trade agreements (FTA and free trade zones (FTZ are considered in the article, argued the complex approach to their structures and results under unstable global economic environment. The typology of the free trade zones models and financial linkages types between countries have been developed. Approaches to the results of the free trade zones have been argued. It has been discovered that for the free trade zones of transitional countries the prevailing are tarde flows concentration whereas financial and investment linkages are acting with developed countries. The main directions of increasing of the financial linkages results in the free trade zones have been discovered.

  12. The hidden hyperbolic geometry of international trade: World Trade Atlas 1870–2013

    Science.gov (United States)

    García-Pérez, Guillermo; Boguñá, Marián; Allard, Antoine; Serrano, M. Ángeles

    2016-01-01

    Here, we present the World Trade Atlas 1870–2013, a collection of annual world trade maps in which distance combines economic size and the different dimensions that affect international trade beyond mere geography. Trade distances, based on a gravity model predicting the existence of significant trade channels, are such that the closer countries are in trade space, the greater their chance of becoming connected. The atlas provides us with information regarding the long-term evolution of the international trade system and demonstrates that, in terms of trade, the world is not flat but hyperbolic, as a reflection of its complex architecture. The departure from flatness has been increasing since World War I, meaning that differences in trade distances are growing and trade networks are becoming more hierarchical. Smaller-scale economies are moving away from other countries except for the largest economies; meanwhile those large economies are increasing their chances of becoming connected worldwide. At the same time, Preferential Trade Agreements do not fit in perfectly with natural communities within the trade space and have not necessarily reduced internal trade barriers. We discuss an interpretation in terms of globalization, hierarchization, and localization; three simultaneous forces that shape the international trade system. PMID:27633649

  13. Barriers in the Atlantic economic area : from TAFTA to the free market ; new transatlantic trade initiatives

    OpenAIRE

    Schmucker, Claudia; Braml, Josef

    2007-01-01

    "During its current term as EU Council president, Germany has been trying hard to promote transatlantic economic integration. But Washington - and some EU countries - have reacted hesitantly. For them, the primary goal is closing the Doha Round. A transatlantic free trade zone remains a long-term project. Seldom in the recent history of transatlantic trade negotiations has there been as much conceptual confusion as during the 2007 German EU Council presidency. While at first there was talk of...

  14. Comparative study on current trading system and online trading: the ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Comparative study on current trading system and online trading: the case of ... of online trading and factors affecting its feasibility of implementation in ECX. ... The study found that there is significant capacity problem with major skills gap with ...

  15. Pangolins in eastern Nepal: trade and ethno-medicinal importance

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hem Bahadur Katuwal

    2015-07-01

    Full Text Available Pangolin populations are declining globally due to illicit trade for meat and ethno-medicinal practices. We performed semi-structured interviews to analyze scenario of trade activities and documented the ethno-medicinal importance of pangolins in four districts of eastern Nepal. Out of 106 respondents, 78.3% had seen live pangolins, 90.6% had seen their burrows and 66% respondents speculated their decreasing population. Although 64% of the respondents were aware that pangolin is protected species, 44% of respondents had eaten its meat. We found the trade as an organized network where poachers of one village supply pangolins and its parts to poachers of another village and so on until it reaches the international border. Trade flow was more across the Chinese border via different routes where the prices varied from US$ 500–625/kg or even more. For this illegal trade, poachers provoke unemployed youths especially from ethnic communities. Most people hunt pangolins merely for trade without knowing its exact medicinal value. Some people, however, use meat and scales to supposedly cure gastro-intestinal disease, skin disease, cardiac problem, pregnancy pains, back pain; and also for making rings, bags, jackets, purses and musical instruments. As most pangolin habitats lie outside protected areas, illicit trade is increasing rapidly. We recommend immediate strategic plans, effective monitoring techniques and inter-border cooperation to thwart the trade, and raise awareness of their importance.  

  16. Trade liberalization in the south east Europe: Effects and controversial issues

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Pjerotić Ljiljana

    2008-01-01

    Full Text Available Included in the regional cooperation of SEE countries, trade liberalization is considered the most important factor of a sustainable economic growth which should contribute to the mutual trade among SEE countries, growth of the foreign direct investments, further production specialization and export structure change. Countries of the region have accepted liberalization as one of the conditions of the Stabilization and Association Process (SAP, hoping, each of them individually, that in that way they would improve proper position. Creating a free trade area will contribute to a further increase of intra-regional trade flows, but it shouldn't be expected that the relative importance of mutual exchange will prevail the importance which EU has for the SEE countries, except Moldova. Paper is divided into five sections. After the introduction, the trade liberalization process in the SEE region is explained in the second part (section 2. The third section analyses actual intra-regional trade flows and SEE countries trade relations with the EU (section 3. Some controversial issues raised in recent debates on trade liberalization in SEE are also discussed (section 4. The main conclusions are given at the end (section 5. .

  17. TRADE MARKETING NO SETOR DE LOJAS DE CONVENIÊNCIA

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Victor Manoel Cunha de Almeida, Leonardo Siano Penna, Gilberto Figueira da Silva, Flávia D'Albergaria Freitas

    2012-10-01

    Full Text Available This paper aims to describe the motivations for the adoption of trade marketing in convenience stores, as well as its attributions and functional position in the organizational structure. We chose the multiple case study method approach in order to study the motivations and practices of four convenience store chains and five manufacturers. Results indicate that the existence of a formal trade marketing area does not per se ensure collaboration between manufactures and convenience store chains. Trade marketing activities are developed and negotiated with franchisors, but the execution takes place at the franchisee level. It is, in fact, a triadic relationship that encompasses the manufacturer, the franchisor of the convenience stores and its franchisees.

  18. Rules for congestion management. Evaluation of available of capacity and possibilities for increased counter trade

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    NONE

    2004-08-01

    In the Nordic electricity market, congestion is currently managed using two methods: a combination of price areas (market splitting) and counter-trade. In the planning phase (one day ahead) the main method employed is market splitting, although moving internal bottlenecks to the country border and domestic counter-trade are also used to some degree. Congestion is solved through counter- trade in the operating phase (during the day). In spring 2002, Nordel published a report with proposals for possible changes in Nordic congestion management. The main proposal was to introduce new price areas in the spot market and let the borders of price areas coincide with the physical borders of congestion in the transmission network to a greater degree. It was also proposed to increase the use of counter-trade. Based on feedback from Nordic market players, Nordel decided to carry on the work with congestion management in a new ad hoc group. The group's mandate was a Nordic harmonization of rules and practices for congestion management and a socio-economically efficient utilisation of the transmission grid capacity. Furthermore, the group was asked to investigate how to ensure optimal availability of capacity and to look into the possibilities of increasing usage of counter-trade. The ad hoc working group results are presented in this report. Among the conclusions drawn from the investigations are: 1) A limited increase of counter-trade in the planning phase is feasible for temporary congestion in order to reduce the area price risks for the market players, 2) Market participants should be consulted to get their views on whether and to what extent counter-trade should be increased taking benefits and costs into account. The extent of counter-trade could e.g. be decided as a percentage of NCT with intact grid, 3) Nordel should consider a practice where counter-trading is used to prevent reductions in cross-border capacity due to maintenance, 4) The use of counter-trade in

  19. Rules for congestion management. Evaluation of availability of capacity and possibilities for increased counter trade

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    NONE

    2004-08-01

    In the Nordic electricity market, congestion is currently managed using two methods: a combination of price areas (market splitting) and counter-trade. In the planning phase (one day ahead) the main method employed is market splitting, although moving internal bottlenecks to the country border and domestic counter-trade are also used to some degree. Congestion is solved through counter- trade in the operating phase (during the day). In spring 2002, Nordel published a report with proposals for possible changes in Nordic congestion management. The main proposal was to introduce new price areas in the spot market and let the borders of price areas coincide with the physical borders of congestion in the transmission network to a greater degree. It was also proposed to increase the use of counter-trade. Based on feedback from Nordic market players, Nordel decided to carry on the work with congestion management in a new ad hoc group. The group's mandate was a Nordic harmonization of rules and practices for congestion management and a socio-economically efficient utilisation of the transmission grid capacity. Furthermore, the group was asked to investigate how to ensure optimal availability of capacity and to look into the possibilities of increasing usage of counter-trade. The ad hoc working group results are presented in this report. Among the conclusions drawn from the investigations are: 1) A limited increase of counter-trade in the planning phase is feasible for temporary congestion in order to reduce the area price risks for the market players, 2) Market participants should be consulted to get their views on whether and to what extent counter-trade should be increased taking benefits and costs into account. The extent of counter-trade could e.g. be decided as a percentage of NCT with intact grid, 3) Nordel should consider a practice where counter-trading is used to prevent reductions in cross-border capacity due to maintenance, 4) The use of counter-trade in

  20. Rules for congestion management. Evaluation of availability of capacity and possibilities for increased counter trade

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    2004-08-01

    In the Nordic electricity market, congestion is currently managed using two methods: a combination of price areas (market splitting) and counter-trade. In the planning phase (one day ahead) the main method employed is market splitting, although moving internal bottlenecks to the country border and domestic counter-trade are also used to some degree. Congestion is solved through counter- trade in the operating phase (during the day). In spring 2002, Nordel published a report with proposals for possible changes in Nordic congestion management. The main proposal was to introduce new price areas in the spot market and let the borders of price areas coincide with the physical borders of congestion in the transmission network to a greater degree. It was also proposed to increase the use of counter-trade. Based on feedback from Nordic market players, Nordel decided to carry on the work with congestion management in a new ad hoc group. The group's mandate was a Nordic harmonization of rules and practices for congestion management and a socio-economically efficient utilisation of the transmission grid capacity. Furthermore, the group was asked to investigate how to ensure optimal availability of capacity and to look into the possibilities of increasing usage of counter-trade. The ad hoc working group results are presented in this report. Among the conclusions drawn from the investigations are: 1) A limited increase of counter-trade in the planning phase is feasible for temporary congestion in order to reduce the area price risks for the market players, 2) Market participants should be consulted to get their views on whether and to what extent counter-trade should be increased taking benefits and costs into account. The extent of counter-trade could e.g. be decided as a percentage of NCT with intact grid, 3) Nordel should consider a practice where counter-trading is used to prevent reductions in cross-border capacity due to maintenance, 4) The use of counter-trade in the

  1. Is there reciprocity in preferential trade agreements on services?

    OpenAIRE

    Marchetti, Juan; Roy, Martin; Zoratto, Laura

    2012-01-01

    Are market access commitments on services in Preferential Trade Agreements (PTAs) reciprocal or simply unilateral? If reciprocal, do concessions granted in services depend on concessions received from the trading partner in other services or in non-services areas as well? In this paper we investigate the presence of reciprocity in bilateral services agreements, by sub-sector, mode of supply and type of agreement (North-North, South-North, South-South). To do so, we use a database of concessio...

  2. determinants of intra-industry trade between zambia and it's trading

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Eyerusalem

    countries which are relatively similar and produce relatively similar products. IIT arises from the .... trade based on economies of scale, imperfect competition and product differentiation ... with liberalisation, such as the collapse of the manufacturing industries, the country's trade ... Zambia: Diagnostic Trade Integration. Study.

  3. [Geographic distribution of avoidable mortality in the community of Valencia (1975-1990)].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ros, X A; Bayo Vila, A; Alfonso Sánchez, J L; Cortina Greus, P; Chana González, P; Sáiz Sánchez, C

    1996-04-20

    Avoidable mortality (AM) has been proposed as the indicator of the quality and the efficacy of health care services and a parameter useful to distribute health care resources. The aim of this study was to analyze the size and geographic variability of AM in the Community of Valencia, Spain (1975-1990). The causes of AM were analyzed by the classification of Holland divided into indicators of medical care (IMC) and indicators on national health care policy (INHCP) in addition to the causes of the Charlton classification. Standard rates for Spain and the European Community, the rate of masculinity and contribution to total mortality were calculated. Geographic distribution by areas and provinces was analyzed by the rate of standardized mortality. According to the Holland classification AM was 30% of the deaths from 5 to 64 years of age. Out of these cases, 18.5% corresponded to INHCP and 11.1% to IMC. According to the Charlton classification, this percentage was 3.6%. A considerable variation was observed among the 20 areas analyzed due to many causes. The geographic distribution by groups (IMC, INHCP and the Charlton classification) is quite homogeneous. The worse results corresponded to the city of Valencia and to the area 21 (area of the city of Alicante). A great variation was found in the results regarding geographic distribution for individual causes of death while the distribution was quite homogeneous for all of the groups of mortality with the worst results being observed in large urban centers.

  4. Trade, development and sustainability

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Røpke, Inge

    1994-01-01

    Mainstream economic theory argues that trade, and especially free trade, is beneficial to everyone involved. This fundamental idea ? which has the character of a dogma ? still plays an important role in international discussions on trade issues, notably in relation to development and environment...... be defended in all cases. Especially, the developing countries' benefits from trade have been very dubious. Furthermore, the trading system has contributed to environmental problems in several ways, e.g. generating undervaluation of natural resources, stimulating economic growth with environmental....... The purpose of this article is to critically assess the "free trade dogma" and to investigate the validity of widely used arguments concerning the relations between trade and development and between trade and environment. It is argued that the trading system is not something inherently good, which should...

  5. Conceptualising and managing trade-offs in sustainability assessment

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Morrison-Saunders, Angus; Pope, Jenny

    2013-01-01

    One of the defining characteristics of sustainability assessment as a form of impact assessment is that it provides a forum for the explicit consideration of the trade-offs that are inherent in complex decision-making processes. Few sustainability assessments have achieved this goal though, and none has considered trade-offs in a holistic fashion throughout the process. Recent contributions such as the Gibson trade-off rules have significantly progressed thinking in this area by suggesting appropriate acceptability criteria for evaluating substantive trade-offs arising from proposed development, as well as process rules for how evaluations of acceptability should occur. However, there has been negligible uptake of these rules in practice. Overall, we argue that there is inadequate consideration of trade-offs, both process and substantive, throughout the sustainability assessment process, and insufficient considerations of how process decisions and compromises influence substantive outcomes. This paper presents a framework for understanding and managing both process and substantive trade-offs within each step of a typical sustainability assessment process. The framework draws together previously published literature and offers case studies that illustrate aspects of the practical application of the framework. The framing and design of sustainability assessment are vitally important, as process compromises or trade-offs can have substantive consequences in terms of sustainability outcomes delivered, with the choice of alternatives considered being a particularly significant determinant of substantive outcomes. The demarcation of acceptable from unacceptable impacts is a key aspect of managing trade-offs. Offsets can be considered as a form of trade-off within a category of sustainability that are utilised to enhance preferred alternatives once conditions of impact acceptability have been met. In this way they may enable net gains to be delivered; another imperative

  6. Conceptualising and managing trade-offs in sustainability assessment

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Morrison-Saunders, Angus, E-mail: A.Morrison-Saunders@murdoch.edu.au [School of Geo and Spatial Sciences, North West University (South Africa); School of Environmental Science, Murdoch University (Australia); Pope, Jenny [School of Geo and Spatial Sciences, North West University (South Africa); Integral Sustainability (Australia); Curtin University (Australia)

    2013-01-15

    One of the defining characteristics of sustainability assessment as a form of impact assessment is that it provides a forum for the explicit consideration of the trade-offs that are inherent in complex decision-making processes. Few sustainability assessments have achieved this goal though, and none has considered trade-offs in a holistic fashion throughout the process. Recent contributions such as the Gibson trade-off rules have significantly progressed thinking in this area by suggesting appropriate acceptability criteria for evaluating substantive trade-offs arising from proposed development, as well as process rules for how evaluations of acceptability should occur. However, there has been negligible uptake of these rules in practice. Overall, we argue that there is inadequate consideration of trade-offs, both process and substantive, throughout the sustainability assessment process, and insufficient considerations of how process decisions and compromises influence substantive outcomes. This paper presents a framework for understanding and managing both process and substantive trade-offs within each step of a typical sustainability assessment process. The framework draws together previously published literature and offers case studies that illustrate aspects of the practical application of the framework. The framing and design of sustainability assessment are vitally important, as process compromises or trade-offs can have substantive consequences in terms of sustainability outcomes delivered, with the choice of alternatives considered being a particularly significant determinant of substantive outcomes. The demarcation of acceptable from unacceptable impacts is a key aspect of managing trade-offs. Offsets can be considered as a form of trade-off within a category of sustainability that are utilised to enhance preferred alternatives once conditions of impact acceptability have been met. In this way they may enable net gains to be delivered; another imperative

  7. A roaring trade? The legal trade in Panthera leo bones from Africa to East-Southeast Asia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Williams, Vivienne L; Loveridge, Andrew J; Newton, David J; Macdonald, David W

    2017-01-01

    2008-2015 were issued (99.1% from South Africa; 0.7% from Namibia) (51% for Laos), actual exports were less than stated on the permits. However, information on actual exports from 2014-2016 indicated that >3400 skeletons were exported in that period. In total, >6000 skeletons weighing no less than 70 tonnes have been shipped to East-Southeast Asia since 2008. Since few wild lions are hunted and poached within South African protected areas, skeletons for the legal trade appear to be derived from captive bred lions. However, confirmation of a 116kg shipment from Uganda to Laos, and reports of lion poaching in neighbouring countries, indicate that urgent proactive monitoring and evaluation of the legal and illegal trade is necessary in African lion range states where vulnerable wild lion populations are likely to be adversely affected.

  8. A roaring trade? The legal trade in Panthera leo bones from Africa to East-Southeast Asia.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Vivienne L Williams

    Africa to Asia from 2008-2015 were issued (99.1% from South Africa; 0.7% from Namibia (51% for Laos, actual exports were less than stated on the permits. However, information on actual exports from 2014-2016 indicated that >3400 skeletons were exported in that period. In total, >6000 skeletons weighing no less than 70 tonnes have been shipped to East-Southeast Asia since 2008. Since few wild lions are hunted and poached within South African protected areas, skeletons for the legal trade appear to be derived from captive bred lions. However, confirmation of a 116kg shipment from Uganda to Laos, and reports of lion poaching in neighbouring countries, indicate that urgent proactive monitoring and evaluation of the legal and illegal trade is necessary in African lion range states where vulnerable wild lion populations are likely to be adversely affected.

  9. A roaring trade? The legal trade in Panthera leo bones from Africa to East-Southeast Asia

    Science.gov (United States)

    Loveridge, Andrew J.; Newton, David J.; Macdonald, David W.

    2017-01-01

    to Asia from 2008–2015 were issued (99.1% from South Africa; 0.7% from Namibia) (51% for Laos), actual exports were less than stated on the permits. However, information on actual exports from 2014–2016 indicated that >3400 skeletons were exported in that period. In total, >6000 skeletons weighing no less than 70 tonnes have been shipped to East-Southeast Asia since 2008. Since few wild lions are hunted and poached within South African protected areas, skeletons for the legal trade appear to be derived from captive bred lions. However, confirmation of a 116kg shipment from Uganda to Laos, and reports of lion poaching in neighbouring countries, indicate that urgent proactive monitoring and evaluation of the legal and illegal trade is necessary in African lion range states where vulnerable wild lion populations are likely to be adversely affected. PMID:29065143

  10. Markets in the Ottoman city of Algiers and trading systems through the Law of Kanon al-asswak Manuscript

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    A.E.K.Sahraoui

    2009-03-01

    Full Text Available The markets are economic entities with a common advantage in the field of professional specialization accompanied by a clear geographic concentration in the city of Algeria during the Ottoman period. Each trade has a specific street. Each profession's name shows three facts, including the concentration of artisans and merchants into one product, then the trade union that brings them together, and the place that bears their name, which has become independent of the technical meaning. Perhaps the markets of Ottoman Algeria and its professional and professional organizations are the ones that reveal the accuracy of attention to the commercial movement of the civilian, and its economic communities in general and industrial in particular.

  11. The contribution of area-level walkability to geographic variation in physical activity: a spatial analysis of 95,837 participants from the 45 and Up Study living in Sydney, Australia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mayne, Darren J; Morgan, Geoffrey G; Jalaludin, Bin B; Bauman, Adrian E

    2017-10-03

    Individual-level studies support a positive relation between walkable built environments and participation in moderate-intensity walking. However, the utility of this evidence for population-level planning is less clear as it is derived at much finer spatial scales than those used for regional programming. The aims of this study were to: evaluate if individual-level relations between walkability and walking to improve health manifest at population-level spatial scales; assess the specificity of area-level walkability for walking relative to other moderate and vigorous physical activity (MVPA); describe geographic variation in walking and other MVPA; and quantify the contribution of walkability to this variation. Data on sufficient walking, sufficient MVPA, and high MVPA to improve health were analyzed for 95,837 Sydney respondents to the baseline survey of the 45 and Up Study between January 2006 and April 2010. We used conditional autoregressive models to create smoothed MVPA "disease maps" and assess relations between sufficient MVPA to improve health and area-level walkability adjusted for individual-level demographic, socioeconomic, and health factors, and area-level relative socioeconomic disadvantage. Within-cohort prevalence of meeting recommendations for sufficient walking, sufficient MVPA, and high MVPA were 31.7 (95% CI 31.4-32.0), 69.4 (95% CI 69.1-69.7), and 56.1 (95% CI 55.8-56.4) percent. Prevalence of sufficient walking was increased by 1.20 (95% CrI 1.12-1.29) and 1.07 (95% CrI 1.01-1.13) for high and medium-high versus low walkability postal areas, and for sufficient MVPA by 1.05 (95% CrI 1.01-1.08) for high versus low walkability postal areas. Walkability was not related to high MVPA. Postal area walkability explained 65.8 and 47.4 percent of residual geographic variation in sufficient walking and sufficient MVPA not attributable to individual-level factors. Walkability is associated with area-level prevalence and geographic variation in

  12. Projections of Virtual Water Trade Under Agricultural Policy Scenarios in China

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dalin, C.; Hanasaki, N.; Qiu, H.; Mauzerall, D. L.; Rodriguez-Iturbe, I.

    2014-12-01

    China's economic growth is expected to continue into the next decades, accompanied by a sustained urbanization and industrialization. The associated increase in demand for land, water resources and rich foods will deepen the challenge to sustainably feed the population and balance environmental and agricultural policies. In previous work, Inner Mongolia was identified as a target province for trade or agricultural policies aimed at water-use efficiency improvements, due to its large production relying on particularly significant irrigation water use. In addition, water scarcity issues may arises in the greater Beijing area, which represents the largest urban area of arid Northern China. Increasing residential and industrial water demand in this region may lead to fewer available water for irrigation. For these reasons, it is important to estimate the impacts of specific policies aiming at reducing excessive water use for crop production in Inner Mongolia, as well as exploring ways to mitigate pressure on water resources in dry urban areas. In this study, we use socio-economic projections to assess the future state of China's virtual water trade (VWT) network. We then quantify the effects of agricultural policies on the national VWT system and on the efficiency of food trade in terms of water resources. This study addresses the following questions: (1) How future socio-economic changes will affect China's food trade and associated water transfers? (2) To which extent localized reductions of irrigated area can decrease agricultural water use while maintaining national food security? (3) How would these policies affect China's domestic and international VWT network and induced water resources savings (losses)?

  13. Trade Finance during the 2008–9 Trade Collapse : Key Takeaways

    OpenAIRE

    Chauffour, Jean-Pierre; Malouche, Mariem

    2011-01-01

    Trade finance matters for trade, and when financial markets and world trade collapsed three years ago, a shortage in trade finance was hailed as a possible culprit. Because of the potential for global repercussions, world leaders called on the international community to act swiftly to avoid a depression. Governments and international institutions intervened to mitigate the impacts of the c...

  14. New Trends of E-commerce Development Brought by Chinese International Trade

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    Wen Xu

    2015-01-01

    e-commerce as a new trade, in the form of the current globalization of information and economic globalization, is with its strong competitive advantage and vitality, which can quickly spread to all areas of international business, and it changes in the international economic landscape had a profound impact. E-commerce is based on the rapid development of computer technology and the wide application is on the use of the Internet and advanced communications technology. It changes the the past, traditional physical trading and cash transactions, in a virtualization market, merchandise presentation via the web. With the online payment, the use of advanced materials and distribution logistics systems are for tangible and intangible commodities trading of a new trade. This new types of transactions overturn the traditional transaction methods, so that the whole business process, whether it is in the application of domestic and foreign trade, and has achieved the goal of online shopping and trading. E-commerce international trade transaction cost savings improve the efficiency of transactions; it changes in the foreign trade transaction process, the development of third-party trading platform is increasing the competitiveness of enterprises and the creation of employment opportunities in all aspects of a country' s foreign trade and the overall economy have had a significant impact. E-commerce is to establish a new economic and trade order, the already mature in the world trading system and the order is being re-shuffling of the emerging e-commerce trade. China is the world' s top-ranked in the world' s total import and export trade power, is under the wave of e-commerce, the difficulties, we should seize opportunities, and meet challenges.

  15. Geographic variation in the relationship between body mass index and the built environment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Adachi-Mejia, Anna M; Lee, Chanam; Lee, Chunkuen; Carlos, Heather A; Saelens, Brian E; Berke, Ethan M; Doescher, Mark P

    2017-07-01

    Studies examining associations between weight status and neighborhood built environment (BE) have shown inconsistent results and have generally focused on urban settings. However, many Americans do not live in metropolitan areas and BE impacts may be different outside of metropolitan areas. We sought to examine whether the relationship between body mass index (BMI) and neighborhood BE exists and varies by geographic region across small towns in the United States. We conducted telephone surveys with 2156 adults and geographic information systems data in nine towns located within three geographic regions (Northeast, Texas, Washington) in 2011 and 2012. Multiple regression models examined the relationship between individual BMI and BE measures. Most physical activity variables were significantly associated with lower BMI in all geographic regions. We saw variation across geographic region in the relationship between characteristics of the BE variables and BMI. Some perceived and objectively-measured characteristics of the BE were significantly associated with adult BMI, but significant relationships varied by geographic region. For example, in the Northeast, perceived attractiveness of the neighborhood as a reason for why they chose to live there was associated with lower BMI; in Texas, the perceived presence of a fast food restaurant was negatively associated with BMI; in Washington, perceived presence of trees along the streets was associated with lower BMI. Our findings suggest that regional variation plays a role in the relationship between adult BMI and BE characteristics in small towns. Regardless of geographic location, interventions should encourage utilitarian walking and other forms of physical activity. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  16. Implications of Wide-Area Geographic Diversity for Short- Term Variability of Solar Power

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Mills, Andrew; Wiser, Ryan

    2010-08-23

    Worldwide interest in the deployment of photovoltaic generation (PV) is rapidly increasing. Operating experience with large PV plants, however, demonstrates that large, rapid changes in the output of PV plants are possible. Early studies of PV grid impacts suggested that short-term variability could be a potential limiting factor in deploying PV. Many of these early studies, however, lacked high-quality data from multiple sites to assess the costs and impacts of increasing PV penetration. As is well known for wind, accounting for the potential for geographic diversity can significantly reduce the magnitude of extreme changes in aggregated PV output, the resources required to accommodate that variability, and the potential costs of managing variability. We use measured 1-min solar insolation for 23 time-synchronized sites in the Southern Great Plains network of the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement program and wind speed data from 10 sites in the same network to characterize the variability of PV with different degrees of geographic diversity and to compare the variability of PV to the variability of similarly sited wind. The relative aggregate variability of PV plants sited in a dense 10 x 10 array with 20 km spacing is six times less than the variability of a single site for variability on time scales less than 15-min. We find in our analysis of wind and PV plants similarly sited in a 5 x 5 grid with 50 km spacing that the variability of PV is only slightly more than the variability of wind on time scales of 5-15 min. Over shorter and longer time scales the level of variability is nearly identical. Finally, we use a simple approximation method to estimate the cost of carrying additional reserves to manage sub-hourly variability. We conclude that the costs of managing the short-term variability of PV are dramatically reduced by geographic diversity and are not substantially different from the costs for managing the short-term variability of similarly sited wind in

  17. Identifying areas suitable for wine tourism through the use of multi-criteria and geographic information system: the method and its application in the countryside around Mount Etna (Sicily

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lara Riguccio

    2017-06-01

    Full Text Available Vineyards are among the crops that shape quality landscapes. Many places in the world are famous for their unique wine landscapes which play an important role in the development of tourism in the rural areas. Among these, the wine landscape surrounding mount Etna (Sicily emerges due to its undisputed value, as it is an important component of the territory recognised as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. This work was conducted with that in mind, in order to identify the most suitable areas for wine tourism on the slopes of our volcano. The method used assigns a great importance to the quality of the landscape, an indispensable resource for encouraging wine tourism, and considers it to be of equal importance with the production of the wines themselves. The present work uses multi-criteria analysis in combination with geographic information system (GIS. Numerous indicators describing local resources were weighed and spatialized. The GIS analysis allowed for the development of various intermediate maps, which allowed to draw up the final suitability map for wine tourism, identifying areas larger than those of the actual vineyards. The value of these areas and the quality of their landscapes are closely connected to the production of the wines in the zone. It could be the target for specific plans and projects aimed at using the available resources, to develop wine tourism in rural areas. Although the study only covers a limited geographical area, the methodology used has general validity and could be used in other contexts.

  18. Crowdsourcing sensor tasks to a socio-geographic network

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Lasnia, Damian; Broering, Arne; Jirka, Simon; Remke, Albert; Pianho, M.; Santos, M.Y.; Pundt, H.

    2010-01-01

    This work describes an approach of a socio-geographic network for crowdsourcing sensor tasks to a human sensor web. Users can register as human sensors at the system by defining their skills and impact area. Based on that information, submitted sensor tasks are forwarded to the most suitable human

  19. Foreign Trade Dvelopment between Libya and the European Union

    OpenAIRE

    Mansoor Maitah; Nassir Salim; Abulgasem Bazina

    2011-01-01

    This article deals with the analysis of foreign trade development betweenLibyaand the European Union in the recent years. Libya is one of the developing countries with large area, low density of population and large endowment of natural resources, oil and gas. The Libyan economy like a number of other Arab economies, depends heavily on oil revenue, it relies heavily on a single exportable commodity, as the main source of foreign exchange earnings. Trade relations betweenLibyaand the European ...

  20. Coverage of Trade in Services under ASEAN+1FTAs

    OpenAIRE

    Hikari ISHIDO

    2014-01-01

    This paper examines how ASEAN-centered free trade agreements (FTAs) or so-called ASEAN+1 FTAs are correlated among themselves and thus have the potential to be merged into one single commitment toward the establishment of a Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP). The "Coverage Index" defined in this paper highlights similarities and differences among the ASEAN+1 FTAs (i.e., ASEAN Framework Agreement on Services 8th package [AFAS-8], ASEAN-China Free Trade Area 2nd package [ACFTA-2...

  1. Implications of the New Regional Trade Agreements for the World Trading System

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Agnes Ghibuțiu

    2017-04-01

    Full Text Available The year 2013 witnessed an outstanding rise in the pace and scale of negotiations on regional trade agreements (RTAs. While RTAs are not a new phenomenon, current negotiations involve multiple parties and/or major trading countries that have a significant combined economic weight, i.e. mega-RTAs. This paper looks at the recent surge in trade regionalism and addresses some of the key issues related to the potential impact of mega-RTAs upon the world trading system and global trade patterns. It examines the peculiarities of the new mega-RTAs and the factors underlying their proliferation, and discusses the main concerns raised by their foreseeable impact on excluded countries and the wider trading system. The paper finds that, if successfully concluded, mega-RTAs are likely to have far-reaching implications for the world trading regime, affecting its transparency and coherence. Nevertheless, the adverse effects could be cushioned through a revival of trading nations’ interest in the multilateral Doha Round talks.

  2. Discourse on corruption counteraction in network trade

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Leonid A. Zhigun

    2015-12-01

    research of specific forms of corruption and in the developing methods of combating corruption both in trade and in other business areas. nbsp

  3. Agricultural trade and employment in South Africa

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Sandrey, Ron; Plunt, Cecilia; Jensen, Hans Grinsted

    more than a million jobs over the past four decades, the paper highlights its continuing role as an employment creator in rural areas, albeit mainly in low-wage occupations. As for its principal analytical contribution, this paper considers future trade liberalisation in the agricultural sector. Using...

  4. Trade Integration and Trade Imbalances in the European Union: A Network Perspective

    Science.gov (United States)

    Krings, Gautier M.; Carpantier, Jean-François; Delvenne, Jean-Charles

    2014-01-01

    We study the ever more integrated and ever more unbalanced trade relationships between European countries. To better capture the complexity of economic networks, we propose two global measures that assess the trade integration and the trade imbalances of the European countries. These measures are the network (or indirect) counterparts to traditional (or direct) measures such as the trade-to-GDP (Gross Domestic Product) and trade deficit-to-GDP ratios. Our indirect tools account for the European inter-country trade structure and follow (i) a decomposition of the global trade flow into elementary flows that highlight the long-range dependencies between exporting and importing economies and (ii) the commute-time distance for trade integration, which measures the impact of a perturbation in the economy of a country on another country, possibly through intermediate partners by domino effect. Our application addresses the impact of the launch of the Euro. We find that the indirect imbalance measures better identify the countries ultimately bearing deficits and surpluses, by neutralizing the impact of trade transit countries, such as the Netherlands. Among others, we find that ultimate surpluses of Germany are quite concentrated in only three partners. We also show that for some countries, the direct and indirect measures of trade integration diverge, thereby revealing that these countries (e.g. Greece and Portugal) trade to a smaller extent with countries considered as central in the European Union network. PMID:24465381

  5. Trade integration and trade imbalances in the European Union: a network perspective.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Krings, Gautier M; Carpantier, Jean-François; Delvenne, Jean-Charles

    2014-01-01

    We study the ever more integrated and ever more unbalanced trade relationships between European countries. To better capture the complexity of economic networks, we propose two global measures that assess the trade integration and the trade imbalances of the European countries. These measures are the network (or indirect) counterparts to traditional (or direct) measures such as the trade-to-GDP (Gross Domestic Product) and trade deficit-to-GDP ratios. Our indirect tools account for the European inter-country trade structure and follow (i) a decomposition of the global trade flow into elementary flows that highlight the long-range dependencies between exporting and importing economies and (ii) the commute-time distance for trade integration, which measures the impact of a perturbation in the economy of a country on another country, possibly through intermediate partners by domino effect. Our application addresses the impact of the launch of the Euro. We find that the indirect imbalance measures better identify the countries ultimately bearing deficits and surpluses, by neutralizing the impact of trade transit countries, such as the Netherlands. Among others, we find that ultimate surpluses of Germany are quite concentrated in only three partners. We also show that for some countries, the direct and indirect measures of trade integration diverge, thereby revealing that these countries (e.g. Greece and Portugal) trade to a smaller extent with countries considered as central in the European Union network.

  6. A Geographic Method for High Resolution Spatial Heat Planning

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Nielsen, Steffen

    2014-01-01

    more detailed modelling that takes the geographic placement of buildings and the differences among DH systems into account. In the present article, a method for assessing the costs of DH expansions has been developed. The method was applied in a geographic information system (GIS) model that consists...... are considering distribution costs based on the geographic properties of each area and assessing transmission costs based on an iterative process that examines expansion potentials gradually. The GIS model is only applicable to a Danish context, but the method itself can be applied to other countries....... of three parts and assesses the costs of heat production, distribution, and transmission. The model was also applied to an actual case in order to show how it can be used. The model shows many improvements in the method for the assessment of distribution costs and transmission costs. Most notable...

  7. Energy trading

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Beckmann, K.; Schroeter, S.

    2009-01-01

    Two brief articles and two interviews deal with the subject of energy trading. Power and gas exchanges in Europe multiply, but, experts say, we are nowhere near a mature, integrated European energy market as yet. Trading regulations need to be improved and harmonised and interconnections expanded. European Energy Review assesses the state of energy trading in Europe and interviews the ceo's of NordPool (the Nordic power exchange) and APX (Amsterdam Power Exchange)

  8. 76 FR 66034 - Proposed Foreign-Trade Zone-Ada and Canyon Counties, ID, Under Alternative Site Framework...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-10-25

    ... DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE Foreign-Trade Zones Board [Docket 65-2011] Proposed Foreign-Trade Zone--Ada... establish a general-purpose foreign-trade zone at sites in Ada and Canyon Counties, Idaho, adjacent to the... proposed service area under the ASF would be Ada and Canyon Counties, Idaho. If approved, the applicant...

  9. 76 FR 71378 - Labor Advisory Committee for Trade Negotiations and Trade Policy

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-11-17

    ... DEPARTMENT OF LABOR Office of the Secretary Labor Advisory Committee for Trade Negotiations and Trade Policy ACTION: Meeting notice. SUMMARY: Pursuant to the provisions of the Federal Advisory... Committee for Trade Negotiation and Trade Policy. Date, Time, Place: November 30, 2011; 2-4:30 p.m.; U.S...

  10. 77 FR 65581 - Labor Advisory Committee for Trade Negotiations and Trade Policy

    Science.gov (United States)

    2012-10-29

    ... DEPARTMENT OF LABOR Office of the Secretary Labor Advisory Committee for Trade Negotiations and Trade Policy ACTION: Meeting notice. SUMMARY: Pursuant to the provisions of the Federal Advisory... Committee for Trade Negotiation and Trade Policy. Date, Time, Place: November 13, 2012; 10:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m...

  11. BENEFITS AND DRAWBACKS OF ONLINE TRADING VERSUS TRADITIONAL TRADING. EDUCATIONAL FACTORS IN ONLINE TRADING

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Petric (Iancu Ioana Ancuta

    2015-07-01

    Full Text Available In terms of marketing, online trading is a new distribution channel and trading platforms are products of Investment and Financial Services Companies. Internet shortens the connection between the investor and the products they wish to purchase (shares, futures, CFDs, government securities, bonds, etc., and in some cases it no longer needs a security broker. Increasing use of the Internet and increasing competitiveness between Investment and Financial Services Companies do the latter, to seek new distribution channels to specific products. The purpose of this paper is to examine to what extent the investor education level affects the decision to move from traditional trading to online trading and the benefits and disadvantages of these types of transactions. To whom should the Investment and Financial Services Companies guide their marketing campaign to attract more investors for online platforms? The work presented is part of a larger project that will be part of author thesis, studying other factors that influence the decision to move from traditional to online trading: cost factor, time factor, psychological and social attributes of investors, yield portfolios and technological capacities of Investment and Financial Services Companies. Starting from the idea that with the increase of experience in stock investments the investors will want to make their own decisions, Investment and Financial Services Companies should provide new products. Compared to competitors, an Investment and Financial Services Company must innovate, and information technology currently offers the tools for innovation facilities. At the same time, the existence and development of the Internet has made the transaction without assistance or with minimal human intervention possible (Voss, 2000. The difference is in the knowledge about stock market, the speed the transaction orders arrive in the stock market, direct access to multiple markets, transaction costs and the level

  12. A Test of Endogenous Trade Bloc Formation Theory on EU Data

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Richard Edward Baldwin

    2007-12-01

    Full Text Available This paper empirically confronts one explanation of spreading regionalism with the European experience. The domino theory asserts that forming a preferential trade area, or deepening an existing one, produces trade diversion that generates new political-economy forces in third nations as third-nation exporters seek to redress the new discrimination and profit from newly deepened preferences. The pressure increases with the bloc’s size, yet bloc size depends upon how many nations join, so a single incidence of regionalism may trigger several rounds of membership requests from nations that were previously happy to stay out. We estimate a time-series of EU trade creation and diversion over the last five decades and use these to estimate a model of EU membership demands. The results provide broad support for the model and show that trade diversion has a more powerful impact on membership than trade creation.

  13. Energy and emissions trading. Proceedings; Energie und Klimawandel. Tagungsband

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ehlers, Dirk; Wolffgang, Hans-Michael; Schroeder, Ulrich Jan (eds.)

    2010-07-01

    Within the 14th Muensteraner Foreign Trade legislation conference at 15th and 16th October, 2009 in Muenster (Federal Republic of Germany), the following lectures were held: (1) National and European energy policy (Dieter Kunhenn); (2) Trade, transport and distribution of energy - actual and future legal aspects (Markus J. Kachel); (3) Liberalization and regulation of energy services at multilateral and bilateral level (Christian Pitschas); (4) Legal protection for foreign direct investigations in the energy sector (Richard Kreindler); (5) Energy cartels in the light of the WTO law (Joerg Philipp Terhechte); (6) Subsidisation of renewable energy in the area of attention between WTO and EU subsidy law (Martin Lukas); (7) Legal aspects of pipeline through the Baltic Sea (Barbara Kaech); (8) Sustainability standards and their compatibility with the WTO law (Lorenz Franken); (9) Economic instruments between Kyoto and Kopenhagen - Quo vadis climate protection? (Benjamin Goeerlach); (10) Emissions rights trading with developing countries (Peter Ebsen); (11) Legal aspects of the European emissions rights trading (Stefan Altenschmidt).

  14. The role of plant functional trade-offs for biodiversity changes and biome shifts under scenarios of global climatic change

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    B. Reu

    2011-05-01

    Full Text Available The global geographic distribution of biodiversity and biomes is determined by species-specific physiological tolerances to climatic constraints. Current vegetation models employ empirical bioclimatic relationships to predict present-day vegetation patterns and to forecast biodiversity changes and biome shifts under climatic change. In this paper, we consider trade-offs in plant functioning and their responses under climatic changes to forecast and explain changes in plant functional richness and shifts in biome geographic distributions.

    The Jena Diversity model (JeDi simulates plant survival according to essential plant functional trade-offs, including ecophysiological processes such as water uptake, photosynthesis, allocation, reproduction and phenology. We use JeDi to quantify changes in plant functional richness and biome shifts between present-day and a range of possible future climates from two SRES emission scenarios (A2 and B1 and seven global climate models using metrics of plant functional richness and functional identity.

    Our results show (i a significant loss of plant functional richness in the tropics, (ii an increase in plant functional richness at mid and high latitudes, and (iii a pole-ward shift of biomes. While these results are consistent with the findings of empirical approaches, we are able to explain them in terms of the plant functional trade-offs involved in the allocation, metabolic and reproduction strategies of plants. We conclude that general aspects of plant physiological tolerances can be derived from functional trade-offs, which may provide a useful process- and trait-based alternative to bioclimatic relationships. Such a mechanistic approach may be particularly relevant when addressing vegetation responses to climatic changes that encounter novel combinations of climate parameters that do not exist under contemporary climate.

  15. Trading in LNG and natural gas

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1992-01-01

    We have examined the market for natural gas from a number of viewpoints, starting with the role of natural gas in the global energy market where its 20% share of primary energy demand has been captured in the space of almost as many years. In discussion regional energy markets we cover the disparities between supply and demand which give rise to trade by pipeline, and by sea in the form of liquefied natural gas (LNG). Both have in fact increased steadily in recent years, yet even in 1991, only 12-15% of total gas production was traded across international boundaries, whereas for oil it was closer to 40%. For the moment pipeline trade remains heavily concentrated in Europe and North America, and it is in the LNG sector where the spread of projects, both existing and planned, is more global in nature. We examine the development of LNG trades and the implications for shipping. Finally, we look at transportation costs, which are likely to be an important component in the viability of many of the natural gas export schemes now under review. There is good reason to be ''bullish'' about parts of the natural gas industry but this Report suggests that there are areas of concern which could impinge on the development of the market in the 1990s. (author)

  16. A Comparative Analysis of Trade Facilitation in Selected Regional and Bilateral Trade Agreement

    OpenAIRE

    Institute for International Trade

    2006-01-01

    This study compared the treatment of trade facilitation in four selected regional trade agreements, AFTA, APEC, SAFRA and PACER, and in one bilateral free trade agreement being the Australia-Singapore Free Trade Agreement (ASFTA), with a view to determining model trade facilitation principles and measures which may be instructive for developing country negotiations and policy makers.

  17. Embedding Local Places in Global Spaces: Geographical Indications as a Territorial Development Strategy

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bowen, Sarah

    2010-01-01

    Geographical indications (GIs) are place-based names that convey the geographical origin, as well as the cultural and historical identity, of agricultural products. GIs are unique, in that they provide a means of ensuring that control over production and sales of a product stays within a local area, but at the same time they make use of extralocal…

  18. Greenhouse gas trading

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Drazilov, P. [Natsource-Tullett Emissions Brokerage, Toronto, ON (Canada)

    2001-07-01

    Natsource-Tullett Emissions Brokerage is a market leader in natural gas, electricity, coal, and weather, emissions with a total of more than $2 billion by volume in emissions transactions in the United States, Canada, Australia, Japan, and Europe. This power point presentation addressed issues dealing with global warming, the Kyoto Protocol, and explained where we are in terms of reaching commitments for the first compliance period between 2008-2012. The paper focused on international emissions trading (IET), joint implementation (JI) and the clean development mechanism (CDM) and explained how greenhouse gases are traded. Emissions trading refers to the trade of carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxides, perfluoro-carbons, hydrofluorocarbons, and sulphur hexafluorides. The motivational drivers for trading were outlined in terms of liability for buyers and assets for sellers. To date, trading activity is nearly 120 transactions with nearly 70 million tons of carbon dioxide equivalent. tabs., figs.

  19. Ecosystem service trade-offs across global contexts and scales

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jeannine Cavender-Bares

    2015-03-01

    Full Text Available Meeting human needs while sustaining the planet's life support systems is the fundamental challenge of our time. What role sustenance of biodiversity and contrasting ecosystem services should play in achieving a sustainable future varies along philosophical, cultural, institutional, societal, and governmental divisions. Contrasting biophysical constraints and perspectives on human well-being arise both within and across countries that span the tropics and temperate zone. Direct sustenance of livelihoods from ecosystem services in East Africa contrasts with the complex and diverse relationships with the land in Mexico and the highly monetary-based economy of the United States. Lack of understanding of the contrasting contexts in which decision-making about trade-offs occurs creates impediments to collective global efforts to sustain the Earth's life support systems. While theoretical notions of the goals of sustainability science seek a unified path forward, realities on the ground present challenges. This Special Feature seeks to provide both an analytical framework and a series of case studies to illuminate impediments posed to sustainability by contrasting biophysical constraints and human perspectives on what should be sustained. The contributors aim to clarify the trade-offs posed to human welfare in sustaining biodiversity and ecosystem services and the challenges in managing for a sustainable future in which human well-being is not compromised as compared to today. Our goal is to provide novel insights on how sustainability can be achieved internationally through exploration of constraints, trade-offs, and human values examined at multiple scales, and across geographic regions from a range of cultural perspectives.

  20. Utilization of the emergency room: impact of geographic distance

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jae Eun Lee

    2007-05-01

    Full Text Available The aim of this study was to estimate the distance Mississippi patients must travel to access hospital-based emergency rooms (ERs and to determine whether an association exists between geographic distance and ER utilization. To that end, great circle distances between Census Block Group Centroid Points and 89 hospitals with emergency departments were calculated for the State of Mississippi. Data on the socio-demographic characteristics of each block group came from the 2000 US Census data. Logistic regression analyses were conducted to test if there was any association between ER utilization and travel distance. Compared to the national benchmark of 35.7%, more than one in two (56.7%, or 1,612,762 Mississippians visited ERs in 2003 with an estimated 6.1 miles per person annual travel for this purpose. The majority of the target population (54.9% was found to live within 5 miles of hospitals with ERs. Logistic analyses revealed that block groups associated with less miles traveled to hospitals with ERs had a higher proportion of African Americans, impoverished people, female householders, people with more than 12 years education, people older than 65 years, people with high median house values, and people without employment. Twenty-nine of the 89 hospitals (33% providing ER care in Mississippi were found to be in areas with above-average ER utilization rates. These hospitals served a smaller geographical area (28% of the total but had a greater proportion of visitors (57% and served a higher percentage (37% of the state population. People in areas served by the less utilized ERs traveled more miles to be cared for (7.1 miles vs 5.4 miles; p<0.0001. Logistic regression analysis revealed that shorter distances were associated with increased use of the ERs, even after controlling for socio-demographic factors. The conclusion is that Mississippi ERs are typically located in block groups with higher percentages of disadvantaged residents and that

  1. Reconfiguring trade mark law

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Elsmore, Matthew James

    2013-01-01

    -border setting, with a particular focus on small business and consumers. The article's overall message is to call for a rethink of received wisdom suggesting that trade marks are effective trade-enabling devices. The case is made for reassessing how we think about European trade mark law.......First, this article argues that trade mark law should be approached in a supplementary way, called reconfiguration. Second, the article investigates such a reconfiguration of trade mark law by exploring the interplay of trade marks and service transactions in the Single Market, in the cross...

  2. 78 FR 23220 - Foreign-Trade Zone 22-Chicago, Illinois, Authorization of Production Activity, Abbott...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2013-04-18

    ... DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE Foreign-Trade Zones Board [B-91-2012] Foreign-Trade Zone 22--Chicago, Illinois, Authorization of Production Activity, Abbott Laboratories, Inc., AbbVie, Inc. (Pharmaceutical Production), North Chicago, Illinois, Area On December 14, 2012, Abbott Laboratories, Inc., and AbbVie, Inc...

  3. Neutron activation analysis of sixteenth- and seventeenth-century European blue glass trade beads from the eastern Great Lakes area of North America

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hancock, R.G.V.; Chafe, A.; Kenyon, I.

    1994-01-01

    Sixteenth- and seventeenth-century European blue glass trade beads from aboriginal sites in the eastern Great Lakes area of North America have been analysed non-destructively using low neutron dose instrumental neutron activation analysis, so that the beads could be returned to their keepers. Dark blue (cobalt-coloured) beads are readily separable from turquoise (copper-coloured) beads. Differences in the chemistries of the turquoise blue beads appear to be useful in separating glass beads from the two centuries. Low calcium, sixteenth-century turquoise beads tend to disintegrate by a leaching of the alkali metals. (Author)

  4. The competences of European Union institutions in the trade policy (Lisbon Treaty

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Margareta Timbur

    2010-12-01

    Full Text Available The European Union is the best known at the world’s leading trade power and the common trade policy is the core of EU external relations. The events of the last years and the extension of the EU to 27 member proved that the functioning system could no longer continue and was requiring a new institutional framework. The Lisbon Treaty was the right solution. It purposes are to bring changes for the citizens, institutions, external relations foe the consolidation of democracy in EU. This paper attempts to provide an overview of the major revisions introduced by the Treaty of Lisbon regarding the trade policy. Also, it analyses the extension and clarification of EU competence, the greater role of the European Parliament and the inclusion of investment policy in trade policy, the voting rules in trade area and the international negotiation of trade agreements. The study describes, as well, the impact of Lisbon Treaty implementation on the MS which are independent nations, but without power of decision in the common trade policy.

  5. Maternal education and micro-geographic disparities in nutritional status among school-aged children in rural northwestern China.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Cuili; Kane, Robert L; Xu, Dongjuan; Li, Lingui; Guan, Weihua; Li, Hui; Meng, Qingyue

    2013-01-01

    Prior evidence suggests geographic disparities in the effect of maternal education on child nutritional status between countries, between regions and between urban and rural areas. We postulated its effect would also vary by micro-geographic locations (indicated by mountain areas, plain areas and the edge areas) in a Chinese minority area. A cross-sectional study was conducted with a multistage random sample of 1474 school children aged 5-12 years in Guyuan, China. Child nutritional status was measured by height-for-age z scores (HAZ). Linear mixed models were used to examine its association with place of residence and maternal education. Micro-geographic disparities in child nutritional status and the level of socioeconomic composition were found. Children living in mountain areas had poorer nutritional status, even after adjusting for demographic (plain versus mountain, β = 0.16, P = 0.033; edge versus mountain, β = 0.29, P = 0.002) and socioeconomic factors (plain versus mountain, β = 0.12, P = 0.137; edge versus mountain, β = 0.25, P = 0.009). The disparities significantly widened with increasing years of mothers' schooling (maternal education*plain versus mountain: β = 0.06, P = 0.007; maternal education*edge versus mountain: β = 0.07, P = 0.005). Moreover, the association between maternal education and child nutrition was negative (β = -0.03, P = 0.056) in mountain areas but positive in plain areas (β = 0.02, P = 0.094) or in the edge areas (β = 0.04, P = 0.055). Micro-geographic disparities in child nutritional status increase with increasing level of maternal education and the effect of maternal education varies by micro-geographic locations, which exacerbates child health inequity. Educating rural girls alone is not sufficient; improving unfavorable conditions in mountain areas might make such investments more effective in promoting child health. Nutrition programs targeting to the least educated groups in plain and in edge areas would be

  6. Prevalence and characteristics of Listeria monocytogenes in feces of black beef cattle reared in three geographically distant areas in Japan.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hasegawa, Megumi; Iwabuchi, Eriko; Yamamoto, Shiori; Muramatsu, Masatake; Takashima, Ikuo; Hirai, Katsuya

    2014-02-01

    This study was conducted to determine the prevalence and characteristics of Listeria monocytogenes in the feces of black beef cattle reared in geographically distant areas in Japan. We surveyed 130 farms in the following three areas: northern (Hokkaido prefecture), central (Gifu and Mie prefectures), and southern (Oita, Miyazaki, and Kagoshima prefectures) areas and collected 1738 fecal samples. Our data showed the following isolation rate for each area: northern, 11.4% of 651; central, 2.8% of 572; and southern, 2.9% of 515, indicating that the isolation rate in the northern area was significantly higher than that in the central or southern areas (pprevalent serotype (40.5%), followed by 1/2a (36.9%), 4b (21.6%), and 4ab (1.0%). In the northern area, multiple serotypes were isolated from 60% of L. monocytogenes-positive farms. In addition, multiple serotypes were isolated from individual fecal samples from 18 cattle. Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) characterization of 239 isolates detected 48 different PFGE types. We found that isolates from northern farms were genetically diverse compared to those from central and southern farms. Five isolates from human clinical cases and three isolates from animal clinical cases were identical to isolates from black beef cattle. Furthermore, the isolates from northern and central farms were characterized to possess epidemic clone II or III markers. We next showed that the isolates were susceptible to penicillin, ampicillin, amoxicillin, gentamicin, kanamycin, streptomycin, erythromycin, vancomycin, tetracycline, chloramphenicol, ciprofloxacin, and trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole. Taken together, our survey provides crucial data regarding the prevalence and characteristics of L. monocytogenes in black beef cattle farms throughout Japan.

  7. International trade standards for commodities and products derived from animals: the need for a system that integrates food safety and animal disease risk management.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Thomson, G R; Penrith, M-L; Atkinson, M W; Thalwitzer, S; Mancuso, A; Atkinson, S J; Osofsky, S A

    2013-12-01

    A case is made for greater emphasis to be placed on value chain management as an alternative to geographically based disease risk mitigation for trade in commodities and products derived from animals. The geographic approach is dependent upon achievement of freedom in countries or zones from infectious agents that cause so-called transboundary animal diseases, while value chain-based risk management depends upon mitigation of animal disease hazards potentially associated with specific commodities or products irrespective of the locality of production. This commodity-specific approach is founded on the same principles upon which international food safety standards are based, viz. hazard analysis critical control points (HACCP). Broader acceptance of a value chain approach enables animal disease risk management to be combined with food safety management by the integration of commodity-based trade and HACCP methodologies and thereby facilitates 'farm to fork' quality assurance. The latter is increasingly recognized as indispensable to food safety assurance and is therefore a pre-condition to safe trade. The biological principles upon which HACCP and commodity-based trade are based are essentially identical, potentially simplifying sanitary control in contrast to current separate international sanitary standards for food safety and animal disease risks that are difficult to reconcile. A value chain approach would not only enable more effective integration of food safety and animal disease risk management of foodstuffs derived from animals but would also ameliorate adverse environmental and associated socio-economic consequences of current sanitary standards based on the geographic distribution of animal infections. This is especially the case where vast veterinary cordon fencing systems are relied upon to separate livestock and wildlife as is the case in much of southern Africa. A value chain approach would thus be particularly beneficial to under-developed regions of

  8. Perdagangan Bebas Asean-China Free Trade Areal (ACFTA) Terkait Industri Dan Iklim Investasi Di Indonesia

    OpenAIRE

    TRI ATIKA FEBRIANY, SH A.21211057, Jurnal Mahasiswa S2 UNTAN

    2014-01-01

    Countries (Indonesia, Thailand , Malaysia , Singapore , Philippines and Brunei Darussalam) with China , which is called the ASEAN -China Free Trade Agreement (ACFTA). These free trade is in the form of a tax rate reduction for goods on a regular basis up to 0% , the tariff reduction program framework of free trade between ASEAN and China, carried out in stages beginning on January 1, 2004 for EHP This thesis discusses about the implication problem of ASEAN - China Free Trade Area focusing on ...

  9. Trade, Labor, Legitimacy

    OpenAIRE

    Guzman, Andrew

    2003-01-01

    The relationship between international trade and labor standards is one of several controversial issues facing the WTO. Proponents of a trade-labor link argue that labor is a human rights issue and that trade sanctions represent a critical tool in the effort to improve international working conditions. Opponents argue that a link between trade and labor would open the door to protectionist measures that would target low wage countries and harm the very workers the policy is intended to help. ...

  10. The Effects of Ilkhanid's Marine Policy on International Trade at the end of Middle Ages

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    ahmad fazlinejad

    2016-03-01

    Full Text Available The access to seas and high seas was one of the significant concerns of Iranian government's foreign policy during history. The geographical position of Iran- located two seas in north and south of it- provided a golden opportunity for Iranian government to have the influential role in international trade and protection of national security. Ilkhanid government settled in a land which lying from Oxus in east to Euphrates in west and from southern coasts of Black sea in north to Persian Gulf in south. By employing marine policy in commercial relations, Ilkhanid government played a substantial role in international trade during middle Ages. The factors of Ilkhanid's marine trade were based on dominance over Caucasus and election of Azarbayejan district as capital, sovereignty over Mesopotamia in order to control Red Sea and Indian Ocean and also influence over Anatolia and Asia Minor in order to control the southern ports of Black Sea. This marine policy had some considerable consequences such as control of commercial routes between East and West, Competition with Golden Horde and Mamalik government, relations with commercial government of Mediterranean districts and inauguration of commercial road of Tabriz to Hormoz and from Hormoz to Indian Ocean and China Sea which was regarded to be a significant event in international trade history. This research investigates the role of Ilkhanid's marine policy in changes of marine trades between East and West. The outcome of such research demonstrates that Ilkhanid government not only resisted against local marine and its rivals but also had the effective role in connection of marine trade districts of Mediterranean, Black Sea and Indian Ocean.

  11. The Effect of Geographic Units of Analysis on Measuring Geographic Variation in Medical Services Utilization

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Agnus M. Kim

    2016-07-01

    Full Text Available Objectives: We aimed to evaluate the effect of geographic units of analysis on measuring geographic variation in medical services utilization. For this purpose, we compared geographic variations in the rates of eight major procedures in administrative units (districts and new areal units organized based on the actual health care use of the population in Korea. Methods: To compare geographic variation in geographic units of analysis, we calculated the age–sex standardized rates of eight major procedures (coronary artery bypass graft surgery, percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty, surgery after hip fracture, knee-replacement surgery, caesarean section, hysterectomy, computed tomography scan, and magnetic resonance imaging scan from the National Health Insurance database in Korea for the 2013 period. Using the coefficient of variation, the extremal quotient, and the systematic component of variation, we measured geographic variation for these eight procedures in districts and new areal units. Results: Compared with districts, new areal units showed a reduction in geographic variation. Extremal quotients and inter-decile ratios for the eight procedures were lower in new areal units. While the coefficient of variation was lower for most procedures in new areal units, the pattern of change of the systematic component of variation between districts and new areal units differed among procedures. Conclusions: Geographic variation in medical service utilization could vary according to the geographic unit of analysis. To determine how geographic characteristics such as population size and number of geographic units affect geographic variation, further studies are needed.

  12. The Algerian Foreign Trade between the Multilateral Trading System and the Regionalism

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Khayreddine Belaaze

    2014-04-01

    Full Text Available This contribution aims at highlighting a major challenge facing global trade and trade in developing countries. Indeed, regional and preferential trade agreements are now more than ever inconsistent and incoherent and one of the principles of the World Trade Organization, the clause of the most favored nation requiring eliminated all forms of discrimination between trading parties, but what we see in regional trade agreements that the preferential tariffs based on a principle of discrimination. All regional trade agreements granting preferential tariffs between member countries, these preferences do not include the remains of non-member countries (rest of world. On the other hand, preferential tariffs are lower than MFN rates. Meanwhile, the number of regional agreements has doubled since 1995 date creation of the WTO, and Algeria like other developing countries considered one of countries which have not benefit a lot from this situation.

  13. New Solutions for Renewable Energy Trading

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Władysław Mielczarski

    2014-09-01

    Full Text Available The paper presents one of the key problems in renewable energy trading. The support system for RES is operating on financial levels leaving to the RES producers decisions on the energy trade. However, the flawed legal regulations impose the obligations on Default Electricity Supplier (SzU1 to buy all RES production from the installations located in the areas of the SzU operation. Such legal provisions result in the additional burden on the SzU, which main duty is to provide electric energy to customers who do not want to enter competitive electricity markets. Additionally, over interpretation of the Energy Law provisions by the Energy Regulatory Authority (URE2, allowing the RES producers to trade a part of their production on electricity markets leaving the obligation on SzUs, has led to the speculative trade of renewable energy. Some RES producers sell the electricity produced in competitive markets during peak demand hours – usually working days from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. – when the Power Exchange prices are significantly higher than the obligatory purchase price. When during off peak demand hours electricity prices in the Power Exchange are lower than the obligatory level, RES producers sell the electric energy to SzUs at the obligatory price, determined by the URE. Such an abuse of fair trade results in the additional income for the RES producers being burden on SzUs, which have to transfer such costs to energy endusers. The simulations, carried out for Poland indicate that the additional costs can count for about 200 mln zł per year.

  14. Study of atmospheric emission trading programs in the United States

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1991-01-01

    A detailed review and evaluation was conducted of federal and state atmospheric emission trading programs in the USA to identify the factors critical to a successful program. A preliminary assessment was also made of the feasibility of such a program for NOx and volatile organic compounds (VOC) in the lower Fraser Valley in British Columbia. To date, experience in the USA with atmospheric emissions trading has primarily involved trades of emission reduction credits pursuant to the 1977 Clean Air Act amendments. Most trades occur under netting provisions which allow expansion of an existing plant without triggering the stringent new-source review process. Six case studies of emissions trading are described from jurisdictions in California, New Jersey, and Kentucky and from the national SO 2 allowance trading program. Estimates of cost savings achieved by emissions trading are provided, and factors critical to a successful program are summarized. These factors include clearly defined goals, participation proportional to problem contribution, an emissions inventory of satisfactory quality, a comprehensive permit system, a credible enforcement threat, efficient and predictable administration, location of the program in an economic growth area, and support by those affected by the program. In the Fraser Valley, it is concluded that either an emissions reduction credit or an allowance trading system is feasible for both NOx and VOC, and recommendations are given for implementation of such a program based on the factors determined above. 1 fig., 8 tabs

  15. Key figures. Year 2006; Chiffres cles. Annee 2006

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    NONE

    2006-07-01

    This document summarizes in a series of tables the key data of the petroleum industry and of the other energies for the year 2006. Data of the two previous years are given for comparison: 1 - petroleum, France: exploration, reserves, production, transports (tankers, pipelines, crude and refined products), storage capacities, status of resources and uses, foreign trade (imports, prices, exports), refining (capacities, facilities), evolution of supplies, automotive fuels consumption; 2 - energies, France: production, consumption and trade data for coal, natural gas, electricity; total production and consumption of primary energy; consumption per sector of use; 3 - petroleum, world: crude production and reserves per geographical area, OPEC production, imports/exports and refining/consumption per geographical area, international quotation for crudes and refined products; 4 - energies, world: reserves, production and consumption data for coal, natural gas and electricity; uranium production and resources; total primary energy production and consumption per energy source and geographical area. (J.S.)

  16. Key figures. Year 2005; Chiffres cles. Annee 2005

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    NONE

    2005-07-01

    This document summarizes in a series of tables the key data of the petroleum industry and of the other energies for the year 2005. Data of the two previous years are given for comparison: 1 - petroleum, France: exploration, reserves, production, transports (tankers, pipelines, crude and refined products), storage capacities, status of resources and uses, foreign trade (imports, prices, exports), refining (capacities, facilities), evolution of supplies, automotive fuels consumption; 2 - energies, France: production, consumption and trade data for coal, natural gas, electricity; total production and consumption of primary energy; consumption per sector of use; 3 - petroleum, world: crude production and reserves per geographical area, OPEC production, imports/exports and refining/consumption per geographical area, international quotation for crudes and refined products; 4 - energies, world: reserves, production and consumption data for coal, natural gas and electricity; uranium production and resources; total primary energy production and consumption per energy source and geographical area. (J.S.)

  17. Key figures. Year 2006

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    2006-01-01

    This document summarizes in a series of tables the key data of the petroleum industry and of the other energies for the year 2006. Data of the two previous years are given for comparison: 1 - petroleum, France: exploration, reserves, production, transports (tankers, pipelines, crude and refined products), storage capacities, status of resources and uses, foreign trade (imports, prices, exports), refining (capacities, facilities), evolution of supplies, automotive fuels consumption; 2 - energies, France: production, consumption and trade data for coal, natural gas, electricity; total production and consumption of primary energy; consumption per sector of use; 3 - petroleum, world: crude production and reserves per geographical area, OPEC production, imports/exports and refining/consumption per geographical area, international quotation for crudes and refined products; 4 - energies, world: reserves, production and consumption data for coal, natural gas and electricity; uranium production and resources; total primary energy production and consumption per energy source and geographical area. (J.S.)

  18. Key figures. Year 2005

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    2005-01-01

    This document summarizes in a series of tables the key data of the petroleum industry and of the other energies for the year 2005. Data of the two previous years are given for comparison: 1 - petroleum, France: exploration, reserves, production, transports (tankers, pipelines, crude and refined products), storage capacities, status of resources and uses, foreign trade (imports, prices, exports), refining (capacities, facilities), evolution of supplies, automotive fuels consumption; 2 - energies, France: production, consumption and trade data for coal, natural gas, electricity; total production and consumption of primary energy; consumption per sector of use; 3 - petroleum, world: crude production and reserves per geographical area, OPEC production, imports/exports and refining/consumption per geographical area, international quotation for crudes and refined products; 4 - energies, world: reserves, production and consumption data for coal, natural gas and electricity; uranium production and resources; total primary energy production and consumption per energy source and geographical area. (J.S.)

  19. Greenhouse gas credits trade versus biomass trade – weighing (Workshop Summary)

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Junginger, H.M.; Faaij, A.P.C.; Robertson, K.; Woes-Gallasch, S.; Schlamadinger, B.

    2006-01-01

    A workshop entitled ‘Greenhouse gas credits trade versus biomass trade – weighing the benefits’, jointly organised by IEA Bioenergy Tasks 38 (GHG Balances of Biomass and Bioenergy Systems) and 40 (Sustainable International Bioenergy Trade: Securing Supply and Demand), and ENOVA, took place in

  20. International emissions trading

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Boom, Jan Tjeerd

    This thesis discusses the design and political acceptability of international emissions trading. It is shown that there are several designs options for emissions trading at the national level that have a different impact on output and thereby related factors such as employment and consumer prices....... The differences in impact of the design make that governments may prefer different designs of emissions trading in different situations. The thesis furthermore establishes that international emissions trading may lead to higher overall emissions, which may make it a less attractive instrument....

  1. The association between geographical factors and dental caries in a rural area in Mexico.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Maupome, Gerardo; Martínez-Mier, E Angeles; Holt, Alanna; Medina-Solís, Carlo Eduardo; Mantilla-Rodríguez, Andrés; Carlton, Brittany

    2013-07-01

    The aim of this study was to investigate the association between markers of oral disease and geographical factors influencing access to dental care (DMFT score) among school children in Central Mexico. Retrospective data were collected during an international service-learning program between 2002 and 2009. A sample of 1,143 children (55% females; mean age 12.7±13.1years) was analyzed. The mean DMFT score, represented largely by untreated tooth decay, was 4.02 (4.76). The variables that had the most significant effect on the DMFT score were proportion of paved roads between the community and dental services, and the availability of piped potable water. The DMFT score increased in proportion to the percentage of paved roads. In contrast, the DMFT score decreased with the availability of piped potable water. Similar results were found for untreated tooth decay. The main variable associated with a significant increase in dental fillings was proportion of paved roads. Together with Brazilian reports, this is one of the first investigations of the association between geographical factors and oral health in an underdeveloped setting.

  2. Geographic profiling and animal foraging.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Le Comber, Steven C; Nicholls, Barry; Rossmo, D Kim; Racey, Paul A

    2006-05-21

    Geographic profiling was originally developed as a statistical tool for use in criminal cases, particularly those involving serial killers and rapists. It is designed to help police forces prioritize lists of suspects by using the location of crime scenes to identify the areas in which the criminal is most likely to live. Two important concepts are the buffer zone (criminals are less likely to commit crimes in the immediate vicinity of their home) and distance decay (criminals commit fewer crimes as the distance from their home increases). In this study, we show how the techniques of geographic profiling may be applied to animal data, using as an example foraging patterns in two sympatric colonies of pipistrelle bats, Pipistrellus pipistrellus and P. pygmaeus, in the northeast of Scotland. We show that if model variables are fitted to known roost locations, these variables may be used as numerical descriptors of foraging patterns. We go on to show that these variables can be used to differentiate patterns of foraging in these two species.

  3. Rising trade, declining stocks: The global gugul (Commiphora wightii) trade.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cunningham, A B; Brinckmann, J A; Kulloli, R N; Schippmann, U

    2018-05-07

    Commiphora wightii is exploited in India and Pakistan for an oleo-resin (gum guggul) traditionally used in Ayurvedic, Siddha and Unani medical systems. Processed C. wightii oleo-resin products are exported from India to 42 countries, including re-export to Pakistan, for anti-inflammatory use and as an anti-inflammatory and an anti-obesity treatment considered to lower cholesterol and lipid levels. The C. wightii export trade has particular relevance to the European Union because Belgium, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, and United Kingdom are importing countries. Demand and prices for C. wightii oleo-resin are increasing and wild stocks of C. wightii are in decline. The overexploitation of C. wightii after tapping for its commercially valuable oleo-resin is not a new problem, however, but one that has existed for over 50 years. Lopping and chopping trees to extract C. wightii oleo-resin has had a devastating impact on C. wightii populations since the 1960's. The aim of this study was to review the sustainability of the global trade in C. wightii oleo-resin. This included reviewing studies on resin tapping methods and the impacts of wild harvest on C. wightii populations in India and Pakistan. Firstly, we reviewed studies on impacts of C. wightii oleo-resin harvest and on the policy responses taken in relation to harvest and trade in C. wightii oleo-resin. Secondly, we reviewed studies on C. wightii cultivation. Thirdly, global trade data for C. wightii were analyzed. Destructive harvest to obtain the gum is the major threat facing this species. C. wightii populations are also fragmented by habitat loss through clearing for farming. Cutting and lopping in order to extract the medicinal gum are a major threat to C. wightii populations, as is poor recruitment due to grazing by livestock. As a result of over-exploitation, C. wightii oleo-resin production has declined in India. In Gujarat, a key production area, the decline over a 50-year period has

  4. The Asian economy: trade structure interpreted by feedback loop analysis

    OpenAIRE

    Sonis, Michael; Guilhoto, Joaquim José Martins; Hewings, Geoffrey J.D.

    1995-01-01

    The recent discussions that focused on the problems of the Uruguay Round of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade [GATT] together with the emergence of strengthened and expanded free trade areas [such as NAFTA, European Union and MERCOSUL/MERCOSUR] have created the need for careful analysis of the nature of internal and external dependence among nations and, within any nation, among the constituent regions. The picture that is obtained from inspection of import and export flows is only ...

  5. Monitoring the impacts of trade agreements on food environments.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Friel, S; Hattersley, L; Snowdon, W; Thow, A-M; Lobstein, T; Sanders, D; Barquera, S; Mohan, S; Hawkes, C; Kelly, B; Kumanyika, S; L'Abbe, M; Lee, A; Ma, J; Macmullan, J; Monteiro, C; Neal, B; Rayner, M; Sacks, G; Swinburn, B; Vandevijvere, S; Walker, C

    2013-10-01

    The liberalization of international trade and foreign direct investment through multilateral, regional and bilateral agreements has had profound implications for the structure and nature of food systems, and therefore, for the availability, nutritional quality, accessibility, price and promotion of foods in different locations. Public health attention has only relatively recently turned to the links between trade and investment agreements, diets and health, and there is currently no systematic monitoring of this area. This paper reviews the available evidence on the links between trade agreements, food environments and diets from an obesity and non-communicable disease (NCD) perspective. Based on the key issues identified through the review, the paper outlines an approach for monitoring the potential impact of trade agreements on food environments and obesity/NCD risks. The proposed monitoring approach encompasses a set of guiding principles, recommended procedures for data collection and analysis, and quantifiable 'minimal', 'expanded' and 'optimal' measurement indicators to be tailored to national priorities, capacity and resources. Formal risk assessment processes of existing and evolving trade and investment agreements, which focus on their impacts on food environments will help inform the development of healthy trade policy, strengthen domestic nutrition and health policy space and ultimately protect population nutrition. © 2013 The Authors. Obesity Reviews published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of the International Association for the Study of Obesity.

  6. Banking and Trading

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Boot, A.W.A.; Ratnovski, L.

    2016-01-01

    We study the interaction between relationship banking and short-term arm’s length activities of banks, called trading. We show that a bank can use the franchise value of its relationships to expand the scale of trading, but may allocate too much capital to trading ex post , compromising its ability

  7. Trade reform in Iran for accession to the World Trade Organization

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Farajzadeh, Zakariya; Zhu, Xueqin; Bakhshoodeh, Mohammad

    2017-01-01

    We developed a computable general equilibrium (CGE) model to study the potential welfare and environmental impacts of Iran's trade reform for accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO). Our results show that removing trade barriers not only results in higher welfare and GDP as well as lower

  8. Trading Land: A Review of Approaches to Accounting for Upstream Land Requirements of Traded Products.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schaffartzik, Anke; Haberl, Helmut; Kastner, Thomas; Wiedenhofer, Dominik; Eisenmenger, Nina; Erb, Karl-Heinz

    2015-10-01

    Land use is recognized as a pervasive driver of environmental impacts, including climate change and biodiversity loss. Global trade leads to "telecoupling" between the land use of production and the consumption of biomass-based goods and services. Telecoupling is captured by accounts of the upstream land requirements associated with traded products, also commonly referred to as land footprints. These accounts face challenges in two main areas: (1) the allocation of land to products traded and consumed and (2) the metrics to account for differences in land quality and land-use intensity. For two main families of accounting approaches (biophysical, factor-based and environmentally extended input-output analysis), this review discusses conceptual differences and compares results for land footprints. Biophysical approaches are able to capture a large number of products and different land uses, but suffer from a truncation problem. Economic approaches solve the truncation problem, but are hampered by the limited disaggregation of sectors and products. In light of the conceptual differences, the overall similarity of results generated by both types of approaches is remarkable. Diametrically opposed results for some of the world's largest producers and consumers of biomass-based products, however, make interpretation difficult. This review aims to provide clarity on some of the underlying conceptual issues of accounting for land footprints.

  9. Geographical information systems

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Möller, Bernd

    2004-01-01

    The chapter gives an introduction to Geographical Information Systems (GIS) with particular focus on their application within environmental management.......The chapter gives an introduction to Geographical Information Systems (GIS) with particular focus on their application within environmental management....

  10. Geographic Information Systems In Strategic Decision Making In Logistics Companies

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dr. Filiz Gürder

    2013-07-01

    Geographic information systems can make important contributions to logistic companies in the following areas: Routing, Optimization and Scheduling, Asset Tracking, Dispatching/Mobile, Territory Optimization and Planning, Site Selection and Optimization, Supply Chain Management, and Selecting the Supplier.

  11. Vermont Designated Natural Areas

    Data.gov (United States)

    Vermont Center for Geographic Information — Under Natural Areas Law (10 Vermont Statutes Annotated, Chapter 83 � 2607) the FPR commissioner, with the approval of the governor, may designate and set aside areas...

  12. Visualisation of uncertainty for the trade-off triangle used in sustainable agriculture

    Science.gov (United States)

    Harris, Paul; Takahashi, Taro; Lee, Michael

    2017-04-01

    Agriculture at the global-scale is at a critical juncture where competing requirements for maximal production and minimal pollution have led to the concept of sustainable intensification. All farming systems (arable, grasslands, etc.) are part of this debate, where each have particular associated environmental risks such as water and air pollution, greenhouse gas emissions and soil degradation, as well as issues affecting production efficiency, product quality and consumer acceptability, reflected in the development of agricultural sustainability policies. These challenges necessitate multidisciplinary solutions that can only be properly researched, implemented and tested in real-world production systems which are suited to their geographical and climatic production practice. In this respect, various high-profile agricultural data collection experiments have been set up, such as the North Wyke Farm Platform (http://www.rothamsted.ac.uk/farmplatform) to research agricultural productivity and ecosystem responses to different management practices. In this farm-scale grasslands experiment, data on hydrology, emissions, nutrient cycling, biodiversity, productivity and livestock welfare/health are collected, that in turn, are converted to trade-off metrics with respect to: (i) economic profits, (ii) societal benefits and (iii) environmental concerns, under the umbrella of sustainable intensification. Similar agriculture research platforms have similar objectives, where data collections are ultimately synthesised into trade-off metrics. Trade-offs metrics can then be usefully visualized via the usual sustainable triangle, with a new triangle for each key time period (e.g. baseline versus post-baseline). This enables a visual assessment of change in sustainability harmony or discord, according to the remit of the given research experiment. In this paper, we discuss different approaches to calculation of the sustainability trade-off metrics that are required from the farm

  13. Benefits of trade facilitation as a simpler procedure for world trade growth

    OpenAIRE

    Miteva-Kacarski, Emilija; Gorgieva-Trajkovska, Olivera

    2011-01-01

    “The simplification and harmonisation of international trade procedures” where trade procedures are the “activities, practices and formalities involved in collecting, presenting, communicating and processing data required for the movement of goods in international trade” is trade facilitation according the WTO. Trade facilitation initiatives benefit both the business community and governments. The business community benefits by obtaining enhanced competitiveness in national and international ...

  14. World Trade Organisation (WTO): Trade rules/agreements and ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    The GATT (General Agreement on Trade and Tariffs) rules of 1947 were seen as prejudicial to the economic and development concerns of developing countries. With the coming into effect of World Trade Organization (WTO), it was expected that some of the concerns of the developing countries will be addressed.

  15. Geographic Access to Cancer Care and Mortality Among Adolescents.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tai, Eric; Hallisey, Elaine; Peipins, Lucy A; Flanagan, Barry; Lunsford, Natasha Buchanan; Wilt, Grete; Graham, Shannon

    2018-02-01

    Adolescents with cancer have had less improvement in survival than other populations in the United States. This may be due, in part, to adolescents not receiving treatment at Children's Oncology Group (COG) institutions, which have been shown to increase survival for some cancers. The objective of this ecologic study was to examine geographic distance to COG institutions and adolescent cancer mortality. We calculated cancer mortality among adolescents and sociodemographic and healthcare access factors in four geographic zones at selected distances surrounding COG facilities: Zone A (area within 10 miles of any COG institution), Zones B and C (concentric rings with distances from a COG institution of >10-25 miles and >25-50 miles, respectively), and Zone D (area outside of 50 miles). The adolescent cancer death rate was highest in Zone A at 3.21 deaths/100,000, followed by Zone B at 3.05 deaths/100,000, Zone C at 2.94 deaths/100,000, and Zone D at 2.88 deaths/100,000. The United States-wide death rate for whites without Hispanic ethnicity, blacks without Hispanic ethnicity, and persons with Hispanic ethnicity was 2.96 deaths/100,000, 3.10 deaths/100,000, and 3.26 deaths/100,000, respectively. Zone A had high levels of poverty (15%), no health insurance coverage (16%), and no vehicle access (16%). Geographic access to COG institutions, as measured by distance alone, played no evident role in death rate differences across zones. Among adolescents, socioeconomic factors, such as poverty and health insurance coverage, may have a greater impact on cancer mortality than geographic distance to COG institution.

  16. Louisiana Coastal Zone Boundary, Geographic NAD83, LDNR (1998)[coastal_zone_boundary_LDNR_1998

    Data.gov (United States)

    Louisiana Geographic Information Center — This is a polygon dataset representing the extent of the LDNR regulatory area defined as the Louisiana Coastal Zone. This area comprises a band across the southern...

  17. 48 CFR 52.225-3 - Buy American Act-Free Trade Agreements-Israeli Trade Act.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-10-01

    ... Trade Agreements-Israeli Trade Act. 52.225-3 Section 52.225-3 Federal Acquisition Regulations System... Text of Provisions and Clauses 52.225-3 Buy American Act—Free Trade Agreements—Israeli Trade Act. As prescribed in 25.1101(b)(1)(i), insert the following clause: Buy American Act—Free Trade Agreements—Israeli...

  18. The Carbon Trading Price and Trading Volume Forecast in Shanghai City by BP Neural Network

    OpenAIRE

    Liu Zhiyuan; Sun Zongdi

    2017-01-01

    In this paper, the BP neural network model is established to predict the carbon trading price and carbon trading volume in Shanghai City. First of all, we find the data of carbon trading price and carbon trading volume in Shanghai City from September 30, 2015 to December 23, 2016. The carbon trading price and trading volume data were processed to get the average value of each 5, 10, 20, 30, and 60 carbon trading price and trading volume. Then, these data are used as input of BP neural network...

  19. Nutrition labelling is a trade policy issue: lessons from an analysis of specific trade concerns at the World Trade Organization.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Thow, Anne Marie; Jones, Alexandra; Hawkes, Corinna; Ali, Iqra; Labonté, Ronald

    2017-01-12

    Interpretive nutrition labels provide simplified nutrient-specific text and/or symbols on the front of pre-packaged foods, to encourage and enable consumers to make healthier choices. This type of labelling has been proposed as part of a comprehensive policy response to the global epidemic of non-communicable diseases. However, regulation of nutrition labelling falls under the remit of not just the health sector but also trade. Specific Trade Concerns have been raised at the World Trade Organization's Technical Barriers to Trade Committee regarding interpretive nutrition labelling initiatives in Thailand, Chile, Indonesia, Peru and Ecuador. This paper presents an analysis of the discussions of these concerns. Although nutrition labelling was identified as a legitimate policy objective, queries were raised regarding the justification of the specific labelling measures proposed, and the scientific evidence for effectiveness of such measures. Concerns were also raised regarding the consistency of the measures with international standards. Drawing on policy learning theory, we identified four lessons for public health policy makers, including: strategic framing of nutrition labelling policy objectives; pro-active policy engagement between trade and health to identify potential trade issues; identifying ways to minimize potential 'practical' trade concerns; and engagement with the Codex Alimentarius Commission to develop international guidance on interpretative labelling. This analysis indicates that while there is potential for trade sector concerns to stifle innovation in nutrition labelling policy, care in how interpretive nutrition labelling measures are crafted in light of trade commitments can minimize such a risk and help ensure that trade policy is coherent with nutrition action. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

  20. Trade Blocs, Currency Blocs and the Disintegration of World Trade in the 1930s

    OpenAIRE

    Eichengreen, Barry; Irwin, Douglas

    1993-01-01

    The dramatic implosion and regionalization of international trade during the 1930s has often been blamed on the trade and foreign exchange policies that emerged in the interwar period. We provide new evidence on the impact of trade and currency blocs on trade flows from 1928 1938 that suggests a blanket indictment of interwar trade policies and payments arrangements is not warranted. Discriminatory trade policies and international monetary arrangements had neither a uniformly favorable nor un...