Open Secrets

OpenAIRE

Madison, Michael

2017-01-01

The law of trade secrets is often conceptualized in bilateral terms, as creating and enforcing rights between trade secret owners, on the one hand, and misappropriators on the other hand. This paper, a chapter in a forthcoming collection on the law of trade secrets, argues that trade secrets and the law that guards them can serve structural and insitutional roles as well. Somewhat surprisingly, given the law’s focus on secrecy, among the institutional products of trade secrets law are commons...

76 FR 26579 - Procedures for Submitting to the Department of Energy Trade Secrets and Commercial or Financial...

Science.gov (United States)

2011-05-09

... assistance can take the form of financial assistance (i.e., grants, cooperative agreements, and technology... Department of Energy Trade Secrets and Commercial or Financial Information That Is Privileged or Confidential... of trade secrets and commercial or financial information that is privileged or confidential, where...

The limitations of contractual clauses to determine the legal nature of information and to protect trade secrets

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nelson Remolina Angarita

2017-12-01

Full Text Available This text analyses the legal requirements for information to be considered a trade secret based on Colombian regulations and rulings issued by the Superintendencia de Industria y Comercio. A contractual clause, by itself, does not have the power to define the information that can be considered a trade secret because freedom of choice cannot disregard the legal nature of the information.

Substantial nitrogen pollution embedded in international trade

Science.gov (United States)

Oita, Azusa; Malik, Arunima; Kanemoto, Keiichiro; Geschke, Arne; Nishijima, Shota; Lenzen, Manfred

2016-02-01

Anthropogenic emissions of reactive nitrogen to the atmosphere and water bodies can damage human health and ecosystems. As a measure of a nation’s contribution to this potential damage, a country’s nitrogen footprint has been defined as the quantity of reactive nitrogen emitted during the production, consumption and transportation of commodities consumed within that country, whether those commodities are produced domestically or internationally. Here we use global emissions databases, a global nitrogen cycle model, and a global input-output database of domestic and international trade to calculate the nitrogen footprints for 188 countries as the sum of emissions of ammonia, nitrogen oxides and nitrous oxide to the atmosphere, and of nitrogen potentially exportable to water bodies. Per-capita footprints range from under 7 kg N yr-1 in some developing countries to over 100 kg N yr-1 in some wealthy nations. Consumption in China, India, the United States and Brazil is responsible for 46% of global emissions. Roughly a quarter of the global nitrogen footprint is from commodities that were traded across country borders. The main net exporters have significant agricultural, food and textile exports, and are often developing countries, whereas important net importers are almost exclusively developed economies. We conclude that substantial local nitrogen pollution is driven by demand from consumers in other countries.

The Criminalization of the Theft of Trade Secrets:\\ud An Analysis of the Economic Espionage Act

OpenAIRE

Searle, Nicola

2012-01-01

This paper presents a law and economics assessment of how the elevation of the theft of trade secrets from civil malfeasance to a felony affects the incentives for both firms and potential thieves. The paper begins with theoretical analysis of the EEA and concludes with an empirical assessment of prosecutions under the EEA. In comparison to penalties used in civil cases, the new incentive of a criminal deterrent to trade secret theft introduces severe consequences, such as incarceration as a ...

Cigarette company trade secrets are not secret: an analysis of reverse engineering reports in internal tobacco industry documents released as a result of litigation.

Science.gov (United States)

Velicer, Clayton; Lempert, Lauren K; Glantz, Stanton

2015-09-01

Use previously secret tobacco industry documents to assess tobacco companies' routine claims of trade secret protection for information on cigarette ingredients, additives and construction made to regulatory agencies, as well as the companies' refusal to publicly disclose this information. We analysed previously secret tobacco industry documents available at (http://legacy.library.ucsf.edu) to identify 100 examples of seven major tobacco companies' reverse engineering of their competitors' brands between 1937 and 2001. These reverse engineering reports contain detailed data for 142 different measurements for at least two companies, including physical parameters of the cigarettes, tobacco types, humectants, additives, flavourings, and smoke constituents of competitors' cigarettes. These 100 documents were distributed to 564 employees, including top managers in domestic and foreign offices across multiple departments, including executive leadership, research and design, product development, marketing and legal. These documents reported new competitors' products, measured ingredient changes over time, and informed companies' decisions regarding ingredients in their own products. Because cigarette companies routinely analyse their competitors' cigarettes in great detail, this information is neither secret nor commercially valuable and, thus, does not meet the legal definition of a 'trade secret.' This information is only being kept 'secret' from the people consuming cigarettes and the scientific community. Public agencies should release this detailed information because it would provide valuable information about how ingredients affect addictiveness and toxicity, and would help the public health community and consumers better understand the impact of cigarette design on human health. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://group.bmj.com/group/rights-licensing/permissions.

Independent consultants : fiduciary duties, trade secrets and confidential information

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fraser, B.; Wilhelmson, M.

1999-01-01

Because of cutbacks and downsizing within the petroleum industry, it has become one of the largest users of contract personnel to provide services that were previously provided by senior levels of management. This paper explored the application of common law fiduciary duties and the duty of confidence to the independent workforce. It examined to what extent fiduciary duties apply to independent consultants and the best way for the employer to protect itself from the potential misuse of confidential information. Part 1 of the paper described fiduciary duties. A fiduciary relationship was described as one that possesses the following three characteristics: (1) the fiduciary has scope for the exercise of some discretion of power, (2) the fiduciary can unilaterally exercise that power to affect the beneficiary's practical interests, and (3) the beneficiary is peculiarly vulnerable to the fiduciary holding the discretion of power. Three examples of how the courts treated some arguments regarding fiduciaries were presented. Part 2 of this paper discussed how trade secrets and confidential information should be handled. It was explained, that regardless of fiduciary duties, the unauthorized use of confidential information by an independent contractor can give rise to liability and an award of damages by the courts. Some examples where the Supreme Court of Canada found breach of confidence by a party were presented. Information communicated from an employer to an employee can be divided into the following three categories: (1) publicly accessible and not confidential, (2) confidential and must be treated as such while an employee is employed, but if learned becomes part of the employees skill and knowledge, and (3) specific confidential trade secrets that cannot lawfully be used for anyone's benefit but the employer's. Issues regarding defining rights and obligations by contract were also discussed

The constitutional protection of trade secrets and patents under the Biologics Price Competition and Innovation Act of 2009.

Science.gov (United States)

Epstein, Richard A

2011-01-01

The Biologics Price Competition and Innovation Act of 2009 ("Biosimilars Act") is for the field of pharmaceutical products the single most important legislative development since passage of the Drug Price Competition and Patent Term Restoration Act of 1984 ("Hatch-Waxman Act"), on which portions of the Biosimilars Act are clearly patterned. Congress revised section 351 of the Public Health Service Act (PHSA) to create a pathway for FDA approval of "biosimilar" biological products. Each biosimilar applicant is required to cite in its application a "reference product" that was approved on the basis of a full application containing testing data and manufacturing information, which is owned and was submitted by another company and much of which constitutes trade secret information subject to constitutional protection. Because the Biosimilars Act authorizes biosimilar applicants to cite these previously approved applications, the implementation of the new legislative scheme raises critical issues under the Fifth Amendment of the Constitution, pursuant to which private property--trade secrets included--may not be taken for public use, without "just compensation." FDA must confront those issues as it implements the scheme set out in the Biosimilars Act. This article will discuss these issues, after providing a brief overview of the Biosimilars Act and a more detailed examination of the law of trade secrets.

Trade secrets protection mode of nuclear power plant

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zeng Bin

2015-01-01

The paper analyzes the legal environment in which nuclear power enterprises are stayed, and mainly discusses the business secret protection modes of China's nuclear power enterprises. It is expected to provide a revelation and help for these enterprises to protect their business secrets. Firstly, the paper briefly expounds the legal basis of business secret protection and China's legalization status in this regard. Then it mainly puts forward the business secret management framework and postulations for nuclear power enterprises, and key points in application and protection of nuclear power business secret. (author)

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 ...

Analysis of the “Human Factor” as an Information Threat to Trade Secrets and Counteractions – Spying is in!

OpenAIRE

Marjanova Jovanov, Tamara

2010-01-01

“Economic espionage and trade secret theft threaten our nation’s national security and economic well being.” Since the 1970s brought the explosion of the Information Revolution and the rise of personal computers, we’ve become even more interested in the brain and how it works. We shouldn’t be aware of Artificial Intelligence and the smart machines of the 21st Century, but of the people in our surroundings and their ability to be corrupted from our competitors. How can we know who is rea...

The GlaA signal peptide substantially increases the expression and secretion of α-galactosidase in Aspergillus niger.

Science.gov (United States)

Xu, Yue; Wang, Yan-Hui; Liu, Tian-Qi; Zhang, Hui; Zhang, He; Li, Jie

2018-03-31

α-Galactosidases are widely used in many fields. It is necessary to improve the production of enzymes through microbiological processes. The aim of this study was to construct recombinant Aspergillus niger strains with high α-galactosidase production. Two recombinant A. niger strains were constructed: AB and AGB. The recombinant AB strain contained the α-galactosidase aglB gene from A. niger with its native AglB signal peptide regulated by the glucoamylase promoter. In the AGB recombinant strain, the AglB signal peptide was replaced with the glucoamylase (GlaA) signal peptide. The extracellular maximum α-galactosidase activity of the AGB strain was 215.7 U/ml and that of the AB strain was 9.8 U/mL. The optimal conditions for α-galactosidase were pH 3.5 and 35 °C. The GlaA signal peptide substantially increased the yield of secreted α-galactosidase in A. niger. This recombinant strain holds great potential for industrial applications.

Gravity Models of Trade-Based Money Laundering

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Ferwerda, Joras|info:eu-repo/dai/nl/314405526; Kattenberg, Marc|info:eu-repo/dai/nl/357208986; Chang, Han-Hsin|info:eu-repo/dai/nl/357209370; Unger, Brigitte|info:eu-repo/dai/nl/290994926; Groot, Loek|info:eu-repo/dai/nl/073642398; Bikker, Jaap|info:eu-repo/dai/nl/06912261X

Several attempts have been made in the economics literature to measure money laundering. However, the adequacy of these models is difficult to assess, as money laundering takes place secretly and, hence, goes unobserved. An exception is trade-based money laundering (TBML), a special form of trade

Individual Attitudes Towards Trade

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jäkel, Ina Charlotte; Smolka, Marcel

2013-01-01

Using the 2007 wave of the Pew Global Attitudes Project, this paper finds statistically significant and economically large Stolper-Samuelson effects in individuals’ preference formation towards trade policy. High-skilled individuals are substantially more pro-trade than low-skilled individuals......-Ohlin model in shaping free trade attitudes, relative to existing literature....

Forecasting market impact costs and identifying expensive trades

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bikker, Jacob A.; Spierdijk, L.; Hoevenaars, Roy P.M.M.; van der Sluis, Pieter Jelle

Often, a relatively small group of trades causes the major part of the trading costs on an investment portfolio. Consequently, reducing the trading costs of comparatively few expensive trades would already result in substantial savings on total trading costs. Since trading costs depend to some

我國侵害營業秘密與競業禁止違約判決之量化研究 Quantitative Analysis of the ROC Court Decisions on Trade Secret Infringements and Violation of Non-Compete Clauses

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

洪榮宗 Oliver Hung

2007-12-01

Full Text Available 營業秘密法生效迄今十年，其對於營業秘密的保護是否已周延？實有待觀察。又離職後競業禁止約款之相關實務運作現況為何？亦為探討營業秘密保護議題時，無法切割之問題。 本文利用司法院之系統查詢我國地方法院自1999 年8 月1 日起至2006年6 月30 日止，侵害營業秘密或違反競業禁止約款之民事判決，並以量化分析方式探討司法實務之態度。 本文之量化分析顯示：營業秘密與競業禁止訴訟之勝率均偏低；主張違反競業禁止明顯比主張侵害營業秘密來得容易；兩類訴訟之平均審理時間恐無法因應其急迫性需求；未約定違反競業禁止約款之違約賠償罰則的敗訴機率極高；競業禁止約款之五原則在法院實務上並未被遵守等。本文希望透過上開發現與確認，能期待找出改善之道。 The ROC Trade Secret Act has come into force for 10 years. However, whether it has sufficiently protected the trade secrets remains unanswered. In addition, the current operation and practice of “Non-Compete Clauses after Employment Relationship” are also important issues while discussing the trade secrets issues. Through the database of the ROC Judicial Yuan, we reviewed all the cases in the ROC district courts in connection with infringements on trade secrets and breach of non-compete clauses from August 1, 1999 to June 30, 2006 and conducted quantitative analysis of the courts’ opinions in this regard. The results of our quantitative analysis show that: 1. most of the decisions related to trade secret infringements and breach of non-compete clauses are in favor of defendants; 2. it is easier to claim violation of the non-compete clauses than infringements on trade secrets; 3. the trial period is too long to protect the plaintiffs given that the time is of essence; 4. it is quite probable that plaintiffs will lose the lawsuits if no penalty clause for

The Secret Driving Force Behind Mongolia’s Successful Democracy

Science.gov (United States)

2016-03-01

the nation’s democracy movement its earliest stages. Courtesy of the Democratic Union of Mongolia PRISM 6, no. 1 FROM THE FIELD | 141 The Secret Driving...assistance and trade. Our state budget PRISM 6, no. 1 FROM THE FIELD | 143 THE SECRET DRIVING FORCE BEHIND MONGOLIA’S SUCCESSFUL DEMOCRACY collapsed; we...O yungerel Tsedevdam ba (2006) PRISM 6, no. 1 FROM THE FIELD | 145 THE SECRET DRIVING FORCE BEHIND MONGOLIA’S SUCCESSFUL DEMOCRACY significantly as

Option trading and individual investor performance

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bauer, R.; Cosemans, M.; Eichholtz, P.

2009-01-01

This paper examines the impact of option trading on individual investor performance. The results show that most investors incur substantial losses on their option investments, which are much larger than the losses from equity trading. We attribute the detrimental impact of option trading on investor

16 CFR 14.12 - Use of secret coding in marketing research.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 16 Commercial Practices 1 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Use of secret coding in marketing research... STATEMENTS § 14.12 Use of secret coding in marketing research. (a) The Federal Trade Commission has determined to close its industry-wide investigation of marketing research firms that was initiated in...

The Impacts of U.S. Agricultural and Trade Policy on Trade Liberalization and Integation via a U.S.-Central American Free Trade Agreement

OpenAIRE

Dale E. Hathaway

2003-01-01

This study looks at several major legislative actions in 2002 that will substantially affect trade negotiations with the United States, and examines the US import protection for agricultural products that will be critical in trade negotiations with Central American countries. The two important legislative actions were the passage of the 2002 Farm Bill and the passage of Trade Promotion Authority, which provides for "fast track" treatment of trade agreements. The 2002 farm bill was widely deno...

77 FR 2757 - Certain Electric Fireplaces, Components Thereof, Manuals for Same, Certain Processes for...

Science.gov (United States)

2012-01-19

..., misappropriation of trade secrets, breach of contract, and tortious interference with contract. The complaint... by reason of misappropriation of trade secrets, breach of contract, or tortious interference with contract, the threat or effect of which is to destroy or substantially injure an industry in the United...

Gravity with Intermediate Goods Trade

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sujin Jang

2017-12-01

Full Text Available This paper derives the gravity equation with intermediate goods trade. We extend a standard monopolistic competition model to incorporate intermediate goods trade, and show that the gravity equation with intermediates trade is identical to the one without it except in that gross output should be used as the output measure instead of value added. We also show that the output elasticity of trade is significantly underestimated when value added is used as the output measure. This implies that with the conventional gravity equation, the contribution of output growth can be substantially underestimated and the role of trade costs reduction can be exaggerated in explaining trade expansion, as we demonstrate for the case of Korea's trade growth between 1995 and 2007.

Mining secreted proteins that function in pepper fruit development and ripening using a yeast secretion trap (YST)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lee, Je Min, E-mail: jemin@knu.ac.kr [Department of Plant Science, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Seoul National University, Seoul (Korea, Republic of); Department of Horticultural Science, Kyungpook National University, Daegu (Korea, Republic of); Lee, Sang-Jik [Biotechnology Institute, Nongwoo Bio Co, Ltd, Yeoju (Korea, Republic of); Department of Plant Biology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY (United States); Rose, Jocelyn K.C. [Department of Plant Biology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY (United States); Yeam, Inhwa [Department of Horticulture and Breeding, Andong National University, Andong (Korea, Republic of); Kim, Byung-Dong [Department of Plant Science, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Seoul National University, Seoul (Korea, Republic of)

2014-04-18

Highlights: • Yeast secretion trap (YST) is a valuable tool for mining secretome. • A total of 80 secreted proteins are newly identified via YST in pepper fruits. • The secreted proteins are differentially regulated during pepper development and ripening. • Transient GFP-fusion assay and in planta secretion trap can effectively validate the secretion of proteins. - Abstract: Plant cells secrete diverse sets of constitutively- and conditionally-expressed proteins under various environmental and developmental states. Secreted protein populations, or secretomes have multiple functions, including defense responses, signaling, metabolic processes, and developmental regulation. To identify genes encoding secreted proteins that function in fruit development and ripening, a yeast secretion trap (YST) screen was employed using pepper (Capsicum annuum) fruit cDNAs. The YST screen revealed 80 pepper fruit-related genes (CaPFRs) encoding secreted proteins including cell wall proteins, several of which have not been previously described. Transient GFP-fusion assay and an in planta secretion trap were used to validate the secretion of proteins encoded by selected YST clones. In addition, RNA gel blot analyses provided further insights into their expression and regulation during fruit development and ripening. Integrating our data, we conclude that the YST provides a valuable functional genomics tool for the identification of substantial numbers of novel secreted plant proteins that are associated with biological processes, including fruit development and ripening.

Mining secreted proteins that function in pepper fruit development and ripening using a yeast secretion trap (YST)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, Je Min; Lee, Sang-Jik; Rose, Jocelyn K.C.; Yeam, Inhwa; Kim, Byung-Dong

2014-01-01

Highlights: • Yeast secretion trap (YST) is a valuable tool for mining secretome. • A total of 80 secreted proteins are newly identified via YST in pepper fruits. • The secreted proteins are differentially regulated during pepper development and ripening. • Transient GFP-fusion assay and in planta secretion trap can effectively validate the secretion of proteins. - Abstract: Plant cells secrete diverse sets of constitutively- and conditionally-expressed proteins under various environmental and developmental states. Secreted protein populations, or secretomes have multiple functions, including defense responses, signaling, metabolic processes, and developmental regulation. To identify genes encoding secreted proteins that function in fruit development and ripening, a yeast secretion trap (YST) screen was employed using pepper (Capsicum annuum) fruit cDNAs. The YST screen revealed 80 pepper fruit-related genes (CaPFRs) encoding secreted proteins including cell wall proteins, several of which have not been previously described. Transient GFP-fusion assay and an in planta secretion trap were used to validate the secretion of proteins encoded by selected YST clones. In addition, RNA gel blot analyses provided further insights into their expression and regulation during fruit development and ripening. Integrating our data, we conclude that the YST provides a valuable functional genomics tool for the identification of substantial numbers of novel secreted plant proteins that are associated with biological processes, including fruit development and ripening

Stress-induced Aldosterone Hyper-Secretion in a Substantial Subset of Patients With Essential Hypertension.

Science.gov (United States)

Markou, Athina; Sertedaki, Amalia; Kaltsas, Gregory; Androulakis, Ioannis I; Marakaki, Chrisanthi; Pappa, Theodora; Gouli, Aggeliki; Papanastasiou, Labrini; Fountoulakis, Stelios; Zacharoulis, Achilles; Karavidas, Apostolos; Ragkou, Despoina; Charmandari, Evangelia; Chrousos, George P; Piaditis, George P

2015-08-01

Aldosterone (ALD) secretion is regulated mainly by angiotensin II, K(+), and adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH). Mineralocorticoid receptor antagonists (MRAs) have effectively been used for the treatment of patients with hypertension who do not have primary aldosteronism (PA). We tested whether chronic stress-related ACTH-mediated ALD hypersecretion and/or zona glomerulosa hypersensitivity could be implicated in the pathogenesis of essential hypertension (ESHT). One hundred thirteen hypertensives without PA and 61 normotensive controls underwent an ultralow-dose (0.03-μg) ACTH stimulation and a treadmill test. Patients with ALD hyper-response according to the cutoffs obtained from controls received treatment with MRAs and underwent genomic DNA testing for the presence of the CYP11B1/CYP11B2 chimeric gene and KCNJ5 gene mutations. A control group of 22 patients with simple ESHT received treatment with MRAs. Based on the cutoffs of ALD and aldosterone-to-renin ratio (ARR) post-ACTH stimulation obtained from controls, 30 patients (27%) exhibited an ALD but not cortisol (F) hyper-response (HYPER group). This group had no difference in basal ACTH/renin (REN) concentrations compared with controls and the 83 patients with hypertension (73%) without an ALD hyper-response to ACTH stimulation. Patients in the HYPER group demonstrated significantly higher ALD concentrations, ARR, and ALD/ACTH ratio (AAR) in the treadmill test. Treatment with MRAs alone produced normalization of blood pressure in these patients whereas patients with hypertension with neither PA nor ALD hyper-response to ACTH stimulation who served as a control group failed to lower blood pressure. Also, two novel germline heterozygous KCNJ5 mutations were detected in the HYPER group. A number of patients with hypertension without PA show ACTH-dependent ALD hyper-secretion and benefit from treatment with MRAs. This could be related to chronic stress via ACTH hyper secretion and/or gene-mutations increasing the

26 CFR 1.971-1 - Definitions with respect to export trade corporations.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

..., copyrights, secret processes and formulas, goodwill, trademarks, trade brands, franchises, and other like... trade income, the anticipated future needs of the business will be taken into account to the extent that... determination date; anticipated future needs relating to a later period will not be taken into account unless it...

Gravity Models of Trade-based Money Laundering

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Ferwerda, J.|info:eu-repo/dai/nl/314405526; Kattenberg, M.A.C.|info:eu-repo/dai/nl/357208986; Chang, H.-S.; Unger, B.|info:eu-repo/dai/nl/290994926; Groot, L.F.M.|info:eu-repo/dai/nl/073642398; Bikker, J.A.|info:eu-repo/dai/nl/06912261X

2011-01-01

Several attempts have been made in the economics literature to measure money laundering. However, the adequacy of these models is difficult to assess, as money laundering takes place secretly and, hence, goes unobserved. An exception is tradebased money laundering (TBML), a special form of trade

Agricultural Trade Liberalization and the Least Developed Countries

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Koning, N.B.J.; Pinstrup-Andersen, P.

2007-01-01

Although the current round of international trade negotiations was called a `Development Round¿, very little was accomplished before the negotiations stalled in mid-2006. Developing countries as a group stand to gain very substantially from trade reform in agricultural commodities. It is less clear

The Fair Trade Balance: New Challenges after 25 years of Fair Trade

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Ruben, R.

2012-01-01

During the last 25 years Fair Trade (FT) experienced substantial growth, but competition from private labels is increasingly challenging the policy foundations of the FT business model. While direct welfare effects of FT for farmers are rather modest, security of delivery contracts and pre-financing

Growth, exchange rates and trade in Brazil: a structuralist post-Keynesian approach

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nelson H. Barbosa Filho

2004-01-01

Full Text Available This paper presents a structuralist post-Keynesian analysis of trade adjustment in Brazil. Based on the concept of the balance-of-payments (BoP constraint on growth, the paper investigates the relationship between income growth and real-exchange-rate devaluation necessary to adjust trade to a foreign-exchange constraint. The main result is that, with price-inelastic and income-elastic imports and based on its trade structure in 2002, Brazil may have to compensate an additional 1% of income growth with approximately 7% of real-exchange-rate devaluation in order to keep its trade balance stable in relation to GDP in the near future. Moreover, the trade parameters of Brazil seem to be unfavorable to growth with stable trade, that is, even moderate rates of GDP expansion lead to a substantial increase of imports and, therefore, require an also substantial devaluation of the real exchange rate to avoid a deterioration of the trade balance.

Growth, exchange rates and trade in Brazil: a structuralist post Keynesian approach

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nelson H. Barbosa Filho

2009-06-01

Full Text Available This paper presents a structuralist post-Keynesian analysis of trade adjustment in Brazil. Based on the concept of the balance-of-payments (BoP constraint on growth, the paper investigates the relationship between income growth and real-exchange-rate devaluation necessary to adjust trade to a foreign-exchange constraint. The main result is that, with price-inelastic and income-elastic imports and based on its trade structure in 2002, Brazil may have to compensate an additional 1% of income growth with approximately 7% of real-exchange-rate devaluation in order to keep its trade balance stable in relation to GDP in the near future. Moreover, the trade parameters of Brazil seem to be unfavorable to growth with stable trade, that is, even moderate rates of GDP expansion lead to a substantial increase of imports and, therefore, require an also substantial devaluation of the real exchange rate to avoid a deterioration of the trade balance.

Clandestine Bushmeat Trade in Cross River State, Nigeria ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This paper surveyed the herp species traded in secret bush meat markets of Cross River State, with the view of assessing their conservation status and uses they are put to. The study mainly focused on six selected communities in Akamkpa Local Government Area (LGA) of Cross Rivers State, Nigeria – the host LGA of ...

International trade agreements: hazards to health?

Science.gov (United States)

Shaffer, Ellen R; Brenner, Joseph E

2004-01-01

Since the 1980s, neoliberal policies have prescribed reducing the role of governments, relying on market forces to organize and provide health care and other vital human services. In this context, international trade agreements increasingly serve as mechanisms to enforce the privatization, deregulation, and decentralization of health care and other services, with important implications for democracy as well as for health. Critics contend that social austerity and "free" trade agreements contribute to the rise in global poverty and economic inequality and instability, and therefore to increased preventable illness and death. Under new agreements through the World Trade Organization that cover vital human services such as health care, water, education, and energy, unaccountable, secret trade tribunals could overrule decisions by democratically elected officials on public financing for national health care systems, licensing and training standards for health professionals, patient safety and quality regulations, occupational safety and health, control of hazardous substances such as tobacco and alcohol, the environment, and affordable access to safe water and sanitation. International negotiations in 2003 in Cancun and in Miami suggested that countervailing views are developing momentum. A concerned health care community has begun to call for a moratorium on trade negotiations on health care and water, and to reinvigorate an alternative vision of universal access to vital services.

Secret Key Agreement: Fundamental Limits and Practical Challenges

KAUST Repository

Rezki, Zouheir

2017-02-15

Despite the tremendous progress made toward establishing PLS as a new paradigm to guarantee security of communication systems at the physical layerthere is a common belief among researchers and industrials that there are many practical challenges that prevent PLS from flourishing at the industrial scale. Most secure message transmission constructions available to date are tied to strong assumptions on CSI, consider simple channel models and undermine eavesdropping capabilities; thus compromising their practical interest to a big extent. Perhaps arguably, the most likely reasonable way to leverage PLS potential in securing modern wireless communication systems is via secret-key agreement. In the latter setting, the legitimate parties try to agree on a key exploiting availability of a public channel with high capacity which is also accessible to the eavesdropper. Once a key is shared by the legitimate parties, they may use it in a one-time pad encryption, for instance. In this article, we investigate two performance limits of secret-key agreement communications; namely, the secret-key diversity-multiplexing trade-off and the effect of transmit correlation on the secretkey capacity. We show via examples how secretkey agreement offers more flexibility than secure message transmissions. Finally, we explore a few challenges of secret-key agreement concept and propose a few guidelines to overturn them.

40 CFR 350.5 - Assertion of claims of trade secrecy.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... deleted, and the generic class or category of the chemical identity or identities inserted in its place... place of the specific chemical identity claimed as trade secret, the generic class or category of the... the specific chemical identity of an extremely hazardous substance under sections 303 (d)(2) and (d)(3...

Trade credit and the propagation of corporate failure: An empirical analysis

OpenAIRE

Jacobsen, Tor; von Schedvin, Erik

2012-01-01

We quantify the importance of trade credit chains for the propagation of corporate bankruptcies. Our results show that trade creditors (suppliers) that issue more trade credit are more exposed to trade debtor (customer) failures, both in terms of the likelihood of experiencing a debtor failure and the loss given failure. We further document that the credit loss invoked by a debtor failure imposes a substantially enhanced bankruptcy risk on the creditors. The propagation mechanism is mitigated...

48 CFR 252.225-7045 - Balance of Payments Program-Construction Material Under Trade Agreements.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

.... Designated country means— (1) A World Trade Organization Government Procurement Agreement (WTO GPA) country... another country, has been substantially transformed in a Free Trade Agreement country into a new and... Program-Construction Material Under Trade Agreements. 252.225-7045 Section 252.225-7045 Federal...

Trade-off preferences regarding adjuvant endocrine therapy among women with estrogen receptor-positive breast cancer.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Wouters, H.; Maatman, G.A.; Dijk, L. van; Bouvy, M.L.; Vree, R.; Geffen, E.C.G. van; Nortier, J.W.; Stiggelbout, A.M.

2013-01-01

Background: There is substantial nonadherence to effective adjuvant endocrine therapy for breast cancer prevention. We therefore examined patients' trade-offs between the efficacy, side-effects, and regimen duration, and whether trade-offs predicted nonadherence. Patients and methods: Trade-offs

Trade-off preferences regarding adjuvant endocrine therapy among women with estrogen receptor-positive breast cancer

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Wouters, H; Maatman, G A; Van Dijk, L; Bouvy, M L; Vree, R; Van Geffen, E C G; Nortier, J W; Stiggelbout, A M

BACKGROUND: There is substantial nonadherence to effective adjuvant endocrine therapy for breast cancer prevention. We therefore examined patients' trade-offs between the efficacy, side-effects, and regimen duration, and whether trade-offs predicted nonadherence. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Trade-offs

Insider Trading as a Signal of Private Information.

OpenAIRE

Damodaran, Aswath; Liu, Crocker H

1993-01-01

There is substantial evidence that insider trading is present around corporate announcements and that this insider trading is motivated by private information. Using real estate investment trusts that choose to reappraise themselves as our sample, we establish that the appraisals contain information, but find no market response to the public announcement of this information in these appraisals. We consider two possible explanations for this inconsistency: the first that the appraisal informat...

Gravity Models of Trade-Based Money Laundering

OpenAIRE

Ferwerda, Joras; Kattenberg, Marc; Chang, Han-Hsin; Unger, Brigitte; Groot, Loek; Bikker, Jaap

2011-01-01

Several attempts have been made in the economics literature to measure money laundering. However, the adequacy of these models is difficult to assess, as money laundering takes place secretly and, hence, goes unobserved. An exception is tradebased money laundering (TBML), a special form of trade abuse that has been discovered only recently. TBML refers to criminal proceeds that are transferred around the world using fake invoices that under- or overvalue imports and exports. This article is a...

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...

40 CFR 790.7 - Confidentiality.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... words “confidential business information,” “trade secret,” or another appropriate phrase indicating its... competitor use such information? How substantial would the harmful effects be? What is the causal...

Trade and health: how World Trade Organization (WTO) law affects alcohol and public health.

Science.gov (United States)

Baumberg, Ben; Anderson, Peter

2008-12-01

The alcohol field is becoming more aware of the consequences of world trade law for alcohol policies. However, there is a need for greater clarity about the different effects of trade on alcohol-related harm. A comprehensive review of all literature on alcohol and world trade [including World Trade Organization (WTO) disputes on alcohol], supported by a more selective review of other relevant cases, academic reports and the grey literature on trade and health. The burden of WTO law on alcohol policies depends upon the type of policy in question. Purely protectionist policies are likely to be struck down, which may lead to increases in alcohol-related harm. Partly protectionist and partly health-motivated policies are also at risk of being struck down. However, purely health-motivated policies are likely to be defended by the WTO-and to the extent that policy makers misunderstand this, they are needlessly avoiding effective ways of reducing alcohol-related harm. WTO agreements contain genuine and substantial risks to alcohol policies, and various ways of minimizing future risks are suggested. However, the 'chilling effect' of mistakenly overestimating these constraints should be avoided. Health policy makers should decide on which policies to pursue based primarily on considerations of effectiveness, ethics and politics rather than legality. As long as any effect of these policies on trade is minimized, they are overwhelmingly likely to win any challenges at the WTO.

Components of the Profitability of Technical Currency Trading

OpenAIRE

Schulmeister, Stephan

2005-01-01

This paper investigates the sources of the profitability of 1024 moving average and momentum models when trading in the German mark (euro)/U.S. dollar market based on daily data. The main results are as follows. First, each of these models would have been profitable over the entire sample period. Second, this profitability is exclusively due to the exploitation of persistent exchange rate trends. Third, these results do not change substantially when trading is examined within subperiods. Four...

Classification of Franchise Networks in the Retail Trade

OpenAIRE

Grygorenko Tetyana M.

2016-01-01

The article clarifies the definitions of the concepts of «franchise network», «franchise trade network», «franchise retail network», which is substantiated by the lack of a unified approach to interpretation of these concepts. The classification of franchise networks in the retail trade taking into account peculiarities in the operation of this sub-sector of the market economy is developed; classification attributes are identified and types of franchise retail chains are cha...

美國聯邦經濟間諜法之回顧與展望──兼論我國營業秘密法之刑罰化 Reviewing the U.S. Economic Espionage Act—With the Extending Comments on the 2013 Amendment of Taiwan’s Trade Secret Act

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

林志潔 Carol Chih-Chieh Lin

2016-06-01

Full Text Available 科技、經濟、國家安全，看似不相關的三個名詞，因營業秘密的存在而牢牢相扣。美國自1996 年起以聯邦層級的經濟間諜法來保護營業秘密，對於侵害營業秘密者課予刑事責任，並明確區分竊取營業秘密行為及經濟間諜行為，以嚇阻企業競爭對手竊取營業秘密，防止國家經濟、安全受到危害。然而，美國聯邦經濟間諜法施行至今已十九年，關於經濟間諜罪的案件，經法院判決確定有罪者卻為數不多，本文擬分析經濟間諜法實務上施行之困境，並提出改革建議。又，我國營業秘密法於2013 年增訂刑事規範第13 條之1至第13 條之4，主要參考自經濟間諜法，為分析比較，本文亦將一併檢討我國營業秘密法刑罰化後之問題。 “Technology, economic and national security,” these three words seem to be irrelevant on the surface; however, they are tightly bounded by the existence of the word—trade secret. The federal government of the U.S. passed the Economic Espionage Act in 1996 in an attempt to create a “comprehensive and systematic” approach to address trade secrecy misappropriation, drawing a clear line between economic espionage and theft of trade secrets through federal criminal justice system. It is established to prevent trade rivals from stealing other business’s most precious property—trade secret, and to protect the national economy, security from any harm. While the Economic Espionage Act has been implemented for 19 years, there are only few cases brought in a verdict of guilty, which seemingly contradicts to the legislative purposes. Therefore, this article aims to analyze the predicamentof the Act, and to give constructive propositions. Furthermore, the Trade Secret Act in Taiwan was revised in 2013. It mainly referred to the Economic Espionage, adding article 13-1 to 13-4. In order to compare and assay, this article will also probe into

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

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.

Trading behaviour on the continuous intraday market ELBAS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Scharff, Richard; Amelin, Mikael

2016-01-01

Intraday markets for electricity allow for trading of energy until shortly before the period of delivery. This offers market participants a possibility to reduce their expected imbalances and to offer own unused flexibility. Because this form of distributed balancing before the period of delivery can be profitable for market participants as well as beneficial for system operations, intraday trading is expected to gain more importance in future, especially with increasing shares of variable renewable energy sources in the generation mix. So far, intraday markets are still a research field with many open questions. This paper contributes by a first analysis of intraday trades on ELBAS, one of the European intraday markets. The analysis gives a detailed picture on trading activity and price development and is intended to improve understanding of continuous intraday trading. Findings include that trading activity differs significantly between price zones, that most trades occur in the last hours before gate closure and that market participants have to handle substantial price variations during the trading period. The paper also investigates the imbalance settlement rules in the Nordic countries and studies which effects one- and two-price imbalance settlement systems have on the market participants' profitability of intraday trading. - Highlights: • Insights into intraday trading: trading activity and price development. • Special focus is on characteristics of continuous trading. • Intrinsic problems in the Nordic imbalance pricing scheme are discussed. • Implications regarding balancing of generation from vRES.

Stress-induced dissociations between intracellular calcium signaling and insulin secretion in pancreatic islets.

Science.gov (United States)

Qureshi, Farhan M; Dejene, Eden A; Corbin, Kathryn L; Nunemaker, Craig S

2015-05-01

In healthy pancreatic islets, glucose-stimulated changes in intracellular calcium ([Ca(2+)]i) provide a reasonable reflection of the patterns and relative amounts of insulin secretion. We report that [Ca(2+)]i in islets under stress, however, dissociates with insulin release in different ways for different stressors. Islets were exposed for 48h to a variety of stressors: cytokines (low-grade inflammation), 28mM glucose (28G, glucotoxicity), free fatty acids (FFAs, lipotoxicity), thapsigargin (ER stress), or rotenone (mitochondrial stress). We then measured [Ca(2+)]i and insulin release in parallel studies. Islets exposed to all stressors except rotenone displayed significantly elevated [Ca(2+)]i in low glucose, however, increased insulin secretion was only observed for 28G due to increased nifedipine-sensitive calcium-channel flux. Following 3-11mM glucose stimulation, all stressors substantially reduced the peak glucose-stimulated [Ca(2+)]i response (first phase). Thapsigargin and cytokines also substantially impacted aspects of calcium influx and ER calcium handling. Stressors did not significantly impact insulin secretion in 11mM glucose for any stressor, although FFAs showed a borderline reduction, which contributed to a significant decrease in the stimulation index (11:3mM glucose) observed for FFAs and also for 28G. We also clamped [Ca(2+)]i using 30mM KCl+250μM diazoxide to test the amplifying pathway. Only rotenone-treated islets showed a robust increase in 3-11mM glucose-stimulated insulin secretion under clamped conditions, suggesting that low-level mitochondrial stress might activate the metabolic amplifying pathway. We conclude that different stressors dissociate [Ca(2+)]i from insulin secretion differently: ER stressors (thapsigargin, cytokines) primarily affect [Ca(2+)]i but not conventional insulin secretion and 'metabolic' stressors (FFAs, 28G, rotenone) impacted insulin secretion. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Cystic fibrosis airway secretions exhibit mucin hyperconcentration and increased osmotic pressure

Science.gov (United States)

Henderson, Ashley G.; Ehre, Camille; Button, Brian; Abdullah, Lubna H.; Cai, Li-Heng; Leigh, Margaret W.; DeMaria, Genevieve C.; Matsui, Hiro; Donaldson, Scott H.; Davis, C. William; Sheehan, John K.; Boucher, Richard C.; Kesimer, Mehmet

2014-01-01

The pathogenesis of mucoinfective lung disease in cystic fibrosis (CF) patients likely involves poor mucus clearance. A recent model of mucus clearance predicts that mucus flow depends on the relative mucin concentration of the mucus layer compared with that of the periciliary layer; however, mucin concentrations have been difficult to measure in CF secretions. Here, we have shown that the concentration of mucin in CF sputum is low when measured by immunologically based techniques, and mass spectrometric analyses of CF mucins revealed mucin cleavage at antibody recognition sites. Using physical size exclusion chromatography/differential refractometry (SEC/dRI) techniques, we determined that mucin concentrations in CF secretions were higher than those in normal secretions. Measurements of partial osmotic pressures revealed that the partial osmotic pressure of CF sputum and the retained mucus in excised CF lungs were substantially greater than the partial osmotic pressure of normal secretions. Our data reveal that mucin concentration cannot be accurately measured immunologically in proteolytically active CF secretions; mucins are hyperconcentrated in CF secretions; and CF secretion osmotic pressures predict mucus layer–dependent osmotic compression of the periciliary liquid layer in CF lungs. Consequently, mucin hypersecretion likely produces mucus stasis, which contributes to key infectious and inflammatory components of CF lung disease. PMID:24892808

Export Trade Performance of Indian Economy during and Following the Global Financial Crisis

OpenAIRE

Dr. Sumanjeet Singh

2011-01-01

Towards the end of 2008 the effects of global recession started getting reflectedin international trade. The fall in global demand and the slowing-down ineconomic growth translated into a substantial reduction in internationaltrade. It affected the cross-border trade of virtually all countries and economicsectors. Indian exports trade could not remain unaffected in a situation whereexternal demand was dwindling globally. The present paper reviews India’sexport performance during and following...

The structural effects of cap and trade climate policy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Goettle, Richard J.; Fawcett, Allen A.

2009-01-01

The Inter-temporal General Equilibrium Model (IGEM) explores the cost to the U.S. economy of increasingly more stringent cap and trade regimes. The economy-wide losses are small with energy, agriculture, chemicals, high tech manufacturing and trade being most affected. The availability of lower cost offsets substantially reduces these economic losses. The economy becomes less capital but more labor intensive. Household welfare losses are smaller for full consumption (goods, services and leisure). A more inelastic trade-off between consumption and leisure dramatically reduces policy costs as do more favorable revenue recycling options. Induced technical change yields a small, measurable reduction in policy costs. (author)

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...

The Carbon Trading Game

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fouquet, Roger

2003-12-01

In response to the Kyoto Protocol, an international market for carbon dioxide tradable permits is likely to be created. Two of the key issues involved are explaining the concepts of tradable permits to industrialists, policy-makers and the man on the street, and anticipating how the market will evolve. A simple game of the market for carbon dioxide tradable permits has been developed and used that can help deal with both issues. As a pedagogical tool, this game benefits from simplicity (just a few pieces of paper are needed) and enables students to grasp the concepts and remember them through the intensity and fun of a trading 'pit'. The experiences also provide substantial insights into the evolution of the carbon dioxide permit market, particularly related to the evolution of trade volume, permit prices and country strategies

Market impact costs of institutional equity trades

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bikker, Jacob A.; Spierdijk, Laura; van der Sluis, Pieter Jelle

2007-01-01

This article analyzes market impact costs of equity trading by one of the world's largest pension funds. We find that, on average, these costs are small in terms of market disruption, but substantial in terms of costs for the pension fund. Average market impact costs equal 20 basis points for buys

Market Impact Costs of Institutional Equity Trades

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bikker, J.A.; Spierdijk, L.; van der Sluis, P.J.

2008-01-01

This article analyzes market impact costs of equity trading by one of the world's largest pension funds. We find that, on average, these costs are small in terms of market disruption, but substantial in terms of costs for the pension fund. Average market impact costs equal 20 basis points for buys

Market Impact Costs of Institutional Equity Trades

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van der Sluis, P.J.; Bikker, J.A.; Spierdijk, L.

2007-01-01

This article analyzes market impact costs of equity trading by one of the world's largest pension funds. We find that, on average, these costs are small in terms of market disruption, but substantial in terms of costs for the pension fund. Average market impact costs equal 20 basis points for buys

[A case of GH and TSH secreting pituitary macroadenoma].

Science.gov (United States)

Gołkowski, Filip; Buziak-Bereza, Monika; Stefańska, Agnieszka; Trofimiuk, Małgorzata; Pantofliński, Jacek; Huszno, Bohdan; Czepko, Ryszard; Adamek, Dariusz

2006-01-01

A case of GH and TSH secreting pituitary macroadenoma is reported. A 45-year-old female presented clinical features of acromegaly (the abnormal growth of the hands and feet, with lower jaw protrusion), diabetes mellitus, hypertension, nodular goiter and hyperthyroidism of unclear origin. NMR pituitary imaging revealed intra and extrasellar tumor. The laboratory examinations showed very high plasma levels of GH and IGF-1 and normal level of TSH coexisting with high plasma levels of free thyroid hormones. Pharmacological pretreatment with somatostatin analogues caused the substantial reduction of GH and TSH plasma levels. Histological and immunohistochemical examination of the tissue obtained at transsphenoidal surgery showed GH and TSH secreting adenoma. The laboratory examinations after surgery showed normal GH and IGF-1 plasma levels and reduced insulin requirement, what indicates radical operation. The very low plasma levels of TSH and free thyroid hormones after surgery and immunohistochemical examination suggest central hyperthyroidism due to TSH secreting pituitary tumor (thyrotropinoma).

Sectoral and regional expansion of emissions trading

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Boehringer, Christoph; Bouwe, Dijkstra; Rosendahl, Knut Einar

2011-07-01

We consider an international emissions trading scheme with partial sectoral and regional coverage. Sectoral and regional expansion of the trading scheme is beneficial in aggregate, but not necessarily for individual countries. We simulate international CO{sub 2} emission quota markets using marginal abatement cost functions and the Copenhagen 2020 climate policy targets for selected countries that strategically allocate emissions in a bid to manipulate the quota price. Quota exporters and importers generally have conflicting interests about admitting more countries to the trading coalition, and our results indicate that some countries may lose substantially when the coalition expands in terms of new countries. For a given coalition, expanding sectoral coverage makes most countries better off, but some countries (notably the USA and Russia) may lose out due to loss of strategic advantages. In general, exporters tend to have stronger strategic power than importers.(Author)

Worlds Apart Trading Together

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Evers, Kasper Grønlund

This study sets out to replace the out-dated notion of ‘Indo-Roman trade’ with a more informed perspective integrating the new findings of the last 30 years.In order to accomplish this, a perspective focusing on concrete demand from the ground up is adopted, also shedding light on the role...... of the market in long-distance exchange. Accordingly, the analysis conducted demonstrates that an economically highly substantial trade took place between the Mediterranean and the Indian Ocean in the 1st–6th century CE, altering patterns of consumption and modes of production in India andSouth Arabia as well...... as the Roman Empire.Significantly, it can be documented that this trade was organised at the centres of demand and supply, in Rome and India, respectively, by comparable urban associations, the transport in-between being handled by equally well-organised groups of seagoing merchants.Consequently, this study...

ECO2, Emissions Trading Services, development project

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ruokonen, A.

2006-01-01

Emissions Trading started within EU at the beginning of 2005. It caused substantial changes to the business environment of energy companies and energy intensive industry. The planning of Emissions Trading is a complicated process and companies will need consulting, IT systems and other services. Emissions Trading introduces a new factor of production emission allowances, which are tradable commodities. In future, Emissions Trading emissions, emission allowances and the prices of emission allowances have to be considered during the fuel purchasing and the energy production planning. And the best possible knowledge of the own emissions balance and market situation has a monetary value when trading emission allowances. Allocation of emission allowances has done in each country according to National Allocation Plan (NAP), accepted by EU. Finland itself and thus also the Finnish companies will be net buyers of emission allowances in long run. That means commonly that the Finnish companies have to buy more allowances meaning some extra costs to the companies. That's why it is very important to develop and provide to the companies an innovatory emissions planning, follow-up, management and reporting systems. With good emission balance management the extra costs of Emissions Trading will be as low as possible. In ECO2 project, Empower together with Power-Deriva, developed Expert services, Emissions Balance Management and Reporting services and Risk Management services for Emissions Trading and needed software and tools for these services. (orig.)

Energy Trade in Southern Africa

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Holland, W F.

1996-01-01

This document deals with possible energy growth in Southern African countries. This region possesses substantial energy resources (including fossil fuels), but because of political instability, government intervention, financial paralysis and lack of adequate transportation infrastructure, this region faces problems in satisfying energy needs. Two key international actions, namely the South African Development Community (SADC) Energy Protocol and the Southern African Power Pool (SAPP) are expected to enhance energy trade and promote economic development. (TEC)

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.

Trade, Transparency, and Welfare in the Asia Pacific

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kazutomo Abe

2008-12-01

Full Text Available This paper examines the impact of reducing corruption and improving transparency to lower trade costs in the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation region. The authors find, based on a computable general equilibrium model, significant potential trade and welfare gains for Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation members, with increased transparency and lower levels of corruption. Results suggest that trade in the region would increase by 11 percent and global welfare would expand by USD 406 billion by raising transparency to the average in the region. Most of the increase in welfare would take place in member economies undertaking reform. Among the reformers, the gross domestic product (GDP of Vietnam, Thailand, Russia, and the Philippines would increase by approximately 20 percent. The benefits to Malaysia and China would also be substantial with increased transparency and lower levels of corruption.

Skill Content of Intra-European Trade Flows

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zeddies, Goetz

2013-04-01

Full Text Available In recent decades, the international division of labor has expanded rapidly in the wake of European integration. In this context, especially Western European high-wage countries should have specialized on (human-capital intensively manufactured goods and should have increasingly sourced labor-intensively manufactured goods, especially parts and components, from Eastern European low wage countries. Since this should be beneficial for the high-skilled and harmful to the lower-qualified workforce in high-wage countries, the opening up of Eastern Europe is often considered as a vital reason for increasing unemployment of the lower-qualified in Western Europe. This paper addresses this issue by analyzing the skill content of Western European countries’ bilateral trade using input-output techniques in order to evaluate possible effects of international trade on labor demand. Thereby, differences in factor inputs and production technologies have been considered, allowing for vertical product differentiation. In this case, skill content of bilateral exports and imports partially differs substantially, especially in bilateral trade between Western and Eastern European countries. According to the results, East-West trade should be harmful particularly to the medium-skilled in Western European countries.

Streamlining digital signal processing a tricks of the trade guidebook

CERN Document Server

2012-01-01

Streamlining Digital Signal Processing, Second Edition, presents recent advances in DSP that simplify or increase the computational speed of common signal processing operations and provides practical, real-world tips and tricks not covered in conventional DSP textbooks. It offers new implementations of digital filter design, spectrum analysis, signal generation, high-speed function approximation, and various other DSP functions. It provides:Great tips, tricks of the trade, secrets, practical shortcuts, and clever engineering solutions from seasoned signal processing professionalsAn assortment.

On Converting Secret Sharing Scheme to Visual Secret Sharing Scheme

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wang Daoshun

2010-01-01

Full Text Available Abstract Traditional Secret Sharing (SS schemes reconstruct secret exactly the same as the original one but involve complex computation. Visual Secret Sharing (VSS schemes decode the secret without computation, but each share is m times as big as the original and the quality of the reconstructed secret image is reduced. Probabilistic visual secret sharing (Prob.VSS schemes for a binary image use only one subpixel to share the secret image; however the probability of white pixels in a white area is higher than that in a black area in the reconstructed secret image. SS schemes, VSS schemes, and Prob. VSS schemes have various construction methods and advantages. This paper first presents an approach to convert (transform a -SS scheme to a -VSS scheme for greyscale images. The generation of the shadow images (shares is based on Boolean XOR operation. The secret image can be reconstructed directly by performing Boolean OR operation, as in most conventional VSS schemes. Its pixel expansion is significantly smaller than that of VSS schemes. The quality of the reconstructed images, measured by average contrast, is the same as VSS schemes. Then a novel matrix-concatenation approach is used to extend the greyscale -SS scheme to a more general case of greyscale -VSS scheme.

Authentication Without Secrets

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Pierson, Lyndon G. [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States); Robertson, Perry J. [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)

2015-11-01

This work examines a new approach to authentication, which is the most fundamental security primitive that underpins all cyber security protections. Current Internet authentication techniques require the protection of one or more secret keys along with the integrity protection of the algorithms/computations designed to prove possession of the secret without actually revealing it. Protecting a secret requires physical barriers or encryption with yet another secret key. The reason to strive for "Authentication without Secret Keys" is that protecting secrets (even small ones only kept in a small corner of a component or device) is much harder than protecting the integrity of information that is not secret. Promising methods are examined for authentication of components, data, programs, network transactions, and/or individuals. The successful development of authentication without secret keys will enable far more tractable system security engineering for high exposure, high consequence systems by eliminating the need for brittle protection mechanisms to protect secret keys (such as are now protected in smart cards, etc.). This paper is a re-release of SAND2009-7032 with new figures numerous edits.

Liberalizing Trade, and Its Impact on Poverty and Inequality in Nicaragua

OpenAIRE

Sánchez, Marco V.; Vos, Rob

2009-01-01

The Doha Round of multilateral trade negotiations stalled in 2008 owing in no small degree to a lack of agreement on the terms of substantially reducing trade-distorting support for agricultural products and to what extent this would be beneficial to developing countries. Nicaragua presents an interesting case in point, being one of the poorest economies in Latin America with still a relatively large agricultural sector and high degrees of rural poverty. In 2005, the country signed a free tra...

DEVELOPMENT STAGE OF RETAIL TRADE IN THE EUROPEAN UNION

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Catana Adina

2012-07-01

Full Text Available According to Karel De Gucht, Trade Commissioner from the European Commission, trade is working for Europe's economic recovery by ensuring growth and jobs. The European renewed trade strategy will open markets and connect Europe to the main sources and regis of global growth. The aim is to ensure that European business gets a fair deal and that countries’ rights are respected so that all can enjoy the benefits of trade. Thanks to the ease of modern transport and communications, it is now easier to produce, buy and sell goods around the world which gives European companies of every size the potential to trade outside Europe. This paper’s objective is to analyse the development stage of the European Union’s retail, and its member countries. The study is based on the research taken in the project of PhD research with the theme: The impacts of Economic Integration on Romanian Retail. For my research I used data from Eurostat, National Statistical Institute, European Union official website In the past 10 years, the volume of retail trade in EU member states has increased, but the extent of the changes varies substantially from one country to another.

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.

A Phytase-Based Reporter System for Identification of Functional Secretion Signals in Bifidobacteria

Science.gov (United States)

Osswald, Annika; Westermann, Christina; Sun, Zhongke; Riedel, Christian U.

2015-01-01

Health-promoting effects have been attributed to a number of Bifidobacterium sp. strains. These effects as well as the ability to colonise the host depend on secreted proteins. Moreover, rational design of protein secretion systems bears the potential for the generation of novel probiotic bifidobacteria with improved health-promoting or therapeutic properties. To date, there is only very limited data on secretion signals of bifidobacteria available. Using in silico analysis, we demonstrate that all bifidobacteria encode the major components of Sec-dependent secretion machineries but only B. longum strains harbour Tat protein translocation systems. A reporter plasmid for secretion signals in bifidobacteria was established by fusing the coding sequence of the signal peptide of a sialidase of Bifidobacterium bifidum S17 to the phytase gene appA of E. coli. The recombinant strain showed increased phytase activity in spent culture supernatants and reduced phytase levels in crude extracts compared to the control indicating efficient phytase secretion. The reporter plasmid was used to screen seven predicted signal peptides in B. bifidum S17 and B. longum E18. The tested signal peptides differed substantially in their efficacy to mediate protein secretion in different host strains. An efficient signal peptide was used for expression and secretion of a therapeutically relevant protein in B. bifidum S17. Expression of a secreted cytosine deaminase led to a 100-fold reduced sensitivity of B. bifidum S17 to 5-fluorocytosine compared to the non-secreted cytosine deaminase suggesting efficient conversion of 5-fluorocytosine to the cytotoxic cancer drug 5-fluorouracil by cytosine deaminase occurred outside the bacterial cell. Selection of appropriate signal peptides for defined protein secretion might improve therapeutic efficacy as well as probiotic properties of bifidobacteria. PMID:26086721

A Phytase-Based Reporter System for Identification of Functional Secretion Signals in Bifidobacteria.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Annika Osswald

Full Text Available Health-promoting effects have been attributed to a number of Bifidobacterium sp. strains. These effects as well as the ability to colonise the host depend on secreted proteins. Moreover, rational design of protein secretion systems bears the potential for the generation of novel probiotic bifidobacteria with improved health-promoting or therapeutic properties. To date, there is only very limited data on secretion signals of bifidobacteria available. Using in silico analysis, we demonstrate that all bifidobacteria encode the major components of Sec-dependent secretion machineries but only B. longum strains harbour Tat protein translocation systems. A reporter plasmid for secretion signals in bifidobacteria was established by fusing the coding sequence of the signal peptide of a sialidase of Bifidobacterium bifidum S17 to the phytase gene appA of E. coli. The recombinant strain showed increased phytase activity in spent culture supernatants and reduced phytase levels in crude extracts compared to the control indicating efficient phytase secretion. The reporter plasmid was used to screen seven predicted signal peptides in B. bifidum S17 and B. longum E18. The tested signal peptides differed substantially in their efficacy to mediate protein secretion in different host strains. An efficient signal peptide was used for expression and secretion of a therapeutically relevant protein in B. bifidum S17. Expression of a secreted cytosine deaminase led to a 100-fold reduced sensitivity of B. bifidum S17 to 5-fluorocytosine compared to the non-secreted cytosine deaminase suggesting efficient conversion of 5-fluorocytosine to the cytotoxic cancer drug 5-fluorouracil by cytosine deaminase occurred outside the bacterial cell. Selection of appropriate signal peptides for defined protein secretion might improve therapeutic efficacy as well as probiotic properties of bifidobacteria.

Sex Trade Involvement in Sao Paulo, Brazil and Toronto, Canada: Narratives of Social Exclusion and Fragmented Identities

Science.gov (United States)

Kidd, Sean A.; Liborio, Renata Maria Coimbra

2011-01-01

An extensive international literature has been developed regarding the risk trajectories of sex trade-involved children and youth. This literature has not, however, substantially incorporated the narratives of youths regarding their experiences. In this article, the contemporary literature on child and youth sex trade-involvement is reviewed and…

Reforming the Regulation of Trading Venues in the EU under the Proposed MiFID II – Levelling the Playing Field and Overcoming Fragmentation?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Clausen, Nis Jul; Sørensen, Karsten Engsig

2012-01-01

The Directive on Markets in Financial Instruments (MiFID 2004), adopted in 2004, brought about substantial changes in the market. Competition between trading venues has increased and a substantial portion of trade in financial instruments has moved from regulated markets to other trading venues....... This has created an unlevel playing field between regulated markets on the one hand and other trading venues on the other. At the same time, the fragmentation of trade has led to problems for ensuring investor protection and market surveillance. The Commission has recently proposed a reform of the Mi......FID regime (MiFID II) to address these two problems. In this article there is an analysis of how and to what extent the proposed MiFID II will solve these problems. It is concluded that MiFID II will solve the problem of the unlevel playing field between regulated markets and multilateral trading facilities...

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...

Fundamental rate-loss trade-off for the quantum internet.

Science.gov (United States)

Azuma, Koji; Mizutani, Akihiro; Lo, Hoi-Kwong

2016-11-25

The quantum internet holds promise for achieving quantum communication-such as quantum teleportation and quantum key distribution (QKD)-freely between any clients all over the globe, as well as for the simulation of the evolution of quantum many-body systems. The most primitive function of the quantum internet is to provide quantum entanglement or a secret key to two points efficiently, by using intermediate nodes connected by optical channels with each other. Here we derive a fundamental rate-loss trade-off for a quantum internet protocol, by generalizing the Takeoka-Guha-Wilde bound to be applicable to any network topology. This trade-off has essentially no scaling gap with the quantum communication efficiencies of protocols known to be indispensable to long-distance quantum communication, such as intercity QKD and quantum repeaters. Our result-putting a practical but general limitation on the quantum internet-enables us to grasp the potential of the future quantum internet.

Livestock Disease Management for Trading Across Different Regulatory Regimes.

Science.gov (United States)

Bate, Andrew M; Jones, Glyn; Kleczkowski, Adam; Naylor, Rebecca; Timmis, Jon; White, Piran C L; Touza, Julia

2018-02-12

The maintenance of livestock health depends on the combined actions of many different actors, both within and across different regulatory frameworks. Prior work recognised that private risk management choices have the ability to reduce the spread of infection to trading partners. We evaluate the efficiency of farmers' alternative biosecurity choices in terms of their own-benefits from unilateral strategies and quantify the impact they may have in filtering the disease externality of trade. We use bovine viral diarrhoea (BVD) in England and Scotland as a case study, since this provides an example of a situation where contrasting strategies for BVD management occur between selling and purchasing farms. We use an agent-based bioeconomic model to assess the payoff dependence of farmers connected by trade but using different BVD management strategies. We compare three disease management actions: test-cull, test-cull with vaccination and vaccination alone. For a two-farm trading situation, all actions carried out by the selling farm provide substantial benefits to the purchasing farm in terms of disease avoided, with the greatest benefit resulting from test-culling with vaccination on the selling farm. Likewise, unilateral disease strategies by purchasers can be effective in reducing disease risks created through trade. We conclude that regulation needs to balance the trade-off between private gains from those bearing the disease management costs and the positive spillover effects on others.

Trade misinvoicing, external debt and sustainable development: A Nigerian example

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Collins C. Ngwakwe

2015-06-01

Full Text Available This paper evaluated how trade misinvoicing orchestrates external debt in Nigeria and its obstructive tendencies on Nigeria’s sustainable economic development. The paper is pertinent, given that Nigeria is among the top ten developing countries in the world who are victims of substantial illicit trade misinvoicing outflows. The methodological approach is a mix of descriptive analysis (using tables and graphs and a t-test of difference in means between trade misinvoicing outflow from Nigeria, external debt and official development assistance (OD in Nigeria for the period 2003 – 2012. Findings indicate that as trade misinvoicing outflow increased during the period 2003 -2012, Nigeria’s external debt increased yearly. Results from the statistical t-test showed that the mean difference in trade misinvoicing outflow is significantly greater than the mean differences in external debt and official development assistance received into Nigeria. This finding attests to the huge internal financial resources that Nigeria lost during the period 2003 - 2012 through illicit trade misinvoicing outflow. The analysis further disclosed that trade misinvoicing outflow has hampered Nigeria’s stride to sustainable economic development given the record increases in unemployment, poverty, lack of access to sanitation facilities, low percentage of qualified health staff to child birth and a widening income inequality as measured by GINI index. The paper concludes that the drainage of Nigeria’s internal financial resources through illicit trade misinvoicing has denied Nigeria the needed finance to enhance the actualisation of sustainable economic development. Recommendations are proffered to assist in halting trade misinvoicing outflow from Nigeria.

Caffeine Inhibits Fluid Secretion by Interlobular Ducts From Guinea Pig Pancreas.

Science.gov (United States)

Mochimaru, Yuka; Yamamoto, Akiko; Nakakuki, Miyuki; Yamaguchi, Makoto; Taniguchi, Ituka; Ishiguro, Hiroshi

2017-04-01

Caffeine is contained in coffee, tea, and numerous beverages and foods. We examined the direct effects of caffeine on the physiological function of pancreatic duct cells by using interlobular duct segments isolated from guinea pig pancreas. The rate of fluid secretion was continuously measured by monitoring the luminal volume of isolated duct segments. Changes in intracellular Ca concentration ([Ca]i) were estimated by microfluorometry in ducts loaded with Fura-2. Both secretin-stimulated and acetylcholine (ACh)-stimulated fluid secretions were substantially and reversibly inhibited by relatively low concentrations of caffeine as low as 0.03 mM relevant to blood levels after ingestion of caffeine-containing beverages. Caffeine inhibited ACh-induced elevation of [Ca]i and secretin-induced fluctuation of [Ca]i. Caffeine abolished thapsigargin-induced intracellular Ca release but did not affect the entry of extracellular Ca. Caffeine (0.05 mM) abolished ethanol (1 mM)-induced fluid hypersecretion in secretin-stimulated pancreatic duct. Low concentrations of caffeine directly inhibit pancreatic ductal fluid secretion stimulated by secretin or ACh and also ethanol-induced fluid hypersecretion. The inhibition by caffeine seems to be mediated by the blockade of intracellular Ca mobilization. Daily intake of caffeine may reduce the volume of pancreatic juice secretion.

Information and Heterogeneous Beliefs: Cost of Capital, Trading Volume, and Investor Welfare

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Christensen, Peter Ove; Qin, Zhenjiang

In an incomplete market setting with heterogeneous prior beliefs, we show that public information can have a substantial impact on the ex ante cost of capital, trading volume, and investor welfare. In a model with exponential utility investors and an asset with a normally distributed dividend...... information system. In an effectively complete market setting, in which investors do not need to trade dynamically in order to take full advantage of their differences in beliefs, the ex ante cost of capital and the investor welfare are both higher than in the incomplete market setting......, the Pareto efficient public information system is the system which enjoys the maximum ex ante cost of capital, and the maximum expected abnormal trading volume. The public information system facilitates improved dynamic trading opportunities based on heterogeneously updated posterior beliefs in order to take...

Information and Heterogeneous Beliefs: Cost of Capital, Trading Volume, and Investor Welfare

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Christensen, Peter Ove; Qin, Zhenjiang

information system. In an effectively complete market setting, in which investors do not need to trade dynamically in order to take full advantage of their differences in beliefs, the ex ante cost of capital and the investor welfare are both higher than in the incomplete market setting......In an incomplete market setting with heterogeneous prior beliefs, we show that public information can have a substantial impact on the ex ante cost of capital, trading volume, and investor welfare. In a model with exponential utility investors and an asset with a normally distributed dividend......, the Pareto efficient public information system is the system which enjoys the maximum ex ante cost of capital, and the maximum expected abnormal trading volume. The public information system facilitates improved dynamic trading opportunities based on heterogeneously updated posterior beliefs in order to take...

Trade, development, and regulatory issues in food.

Science.gov (United States)

Ramaswamy, Sunder; Viswanathan, Brinda

2007-03-01

Trade in food and animal products has increased several-fold in the past decade, and simultaneously regulations governing the movement of such products across national boundaries have also increased. The present study reviews harmonization in food trade regulation by focusing on nutritional aspects to understand its role in enhancing world trade on the one hand and consumer interest and welfare on the other. Harmonization to a large extent brings in more regulation from the developed world acting through their governments, consumer organizations, and multinational companies; it does not seem to address, in general, the concerns of the large segments of the poor population for whom agriculture and food trade are the main sources of livelihood. There is a lack of quantifiable estimates of the loss in well-being of the disadvantaged. However, there is substantial research focused on the potential harm to developed nations as a result of nonadherence to the rules. Clearly, lack of adequate infrastructure, resource constraints, and weak institutions not only result in poor food safety regulation within developing countries but also remain barriers to realizing the greater potential benefits from increased trade. Harmonization of standards would have some losers and some winners, but to make it more inclusive, scientific knowledge alone may not be adequate; social and cultural aspects also need to be considered, since food systems differ among regions, with varying preferences, local resource availability, and levels of economic development. Improvement in governance in many countries not only would ensure better participation in international rule-making and the negotiation process for fairer trade but also would result in effective domestic legislation to ensure safer health for citizens, resulting in higher overall well-being.

LcrG secretion is not required for blocking of Yops secretion in Yersinia pestis

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Matson Jyl S

2008-02-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background LcrG, a negative regulator of the Yersinia type III secretion apparatus has been shown to be primarily a cytoplasmic protein, but is secreted at least in Y. pestis. LcrG secretion has not been functionally analyzed and the relevance of LcrG secretion on LcrG function is unknown. Results An LcrG-GAL4AD chimera, originally constructed for two-hybrid analyses to analyze LcrG protein interactions, appeared to be not secreted but the LcrG-GAL4AD chimera retained the ability to regulate Yops secretion. This result led to further investigation to determine the significance of LcrG secretion on LcrG function. Additional analyses including deletion and substitution mutations of amino acids 2–6 in the N-terminus of LcrG were constructed to analyze LcrG secretion and LcrG's ability to control secretion. Some changes to the N-terminus of LcrG were found to not affect LcrG's secretion or LcrG's secretion-controlling activity. However, substitution of poly-isoleucine in the N-terminus of LcrG did eliminate LcrG secretion but did not affect LcrG's secretion controlling activity. Conclusion These results indicate that secretion of LcrG, while observable and T3SS mediated, is not relevant for LcrG's ability to control secretion.

Tamper-proof secret image-sharing scheme for identifying cheated secret keys and shared images

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Chien-Chang; Liu, Chong-An

2013-01-01

A (t,n) secret image-sharing scheme shares a secret image to n participants, and the t users recover the image. During the recovery procedure of a conventional secret image-sharing scheme, cheaters may use counterfeit secret keys or modified shared images to cheat other users' secret keys and shared images. A cheated secret key or shared image leads to an incorrect secret image. Unfortunately, the cheater cannot be identified. We present an exponent and modulus-based scheme to provide a tamper-proof secret image-sharing scheme for identifying cheaters on secret keys or shared images. The proposed scheme allows users to securely select their secret key. This assignment can be performed over networks. Modulus results of each shared image is calculated to recognize cheaters of a shared image. Experimental results indicate that the proposed scheme is excellent at identifying cheated secret keys and shared images.

Wrapped up in Covers: Preschoolers' Secrets and Secret Hiding Places

Science.gov (United States)

Corson, Kimberly; Colwell, Malinda J.; Bell, Nancy J.; Trejos-Castillo, Elizabeth

2014-01-01

In this qualitative study, interviews about children's secret hiding places were conducted with 3-5-year-olds (n?=?17) in a university sponsored preschool programme using art narratives. Since prior studies indicate that children understand the concept of a secret as early as five and that they associate secrets with hiding places, the purpose of…

Salmonella-secreted Virulence Factors

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Heffron, Fred; Niemann, George; Yoon, Hyunjin; Kidwai, Afshan S.; Brown, Roslyn N.; McDermott, Jason E.; Smith, Richard D.; Adkins, Joshua N.

2011-05-01

In this short review we discuss secreted virulence factors of Salmonella, which directly affect Salmonella interaction with its host. Salmonella secretes protein to subvert host defenses but also, as discussed, to reduce virulence thereby permitting the bacteria to persist longer and more successfully disperse. The type III secretion system (TTSS) is the best known and well studied of the mechanisms that enable secretion from the bacterial cytoplasm to the host cell cytoplasm. Other secretion systems include outer membrane vesicles, which are present in all Gram-negative bacteria examined to date, two-partner secretion, and type VI secretion will also be addressed. Excellent reviews of Salmonella secreted effectors have focused on themes such as actin rearrangements, vesicular trafficking, ubiquitination, and the activities of the virulence factors themselves. This short review is based on S. Typhimurium infection of mice because it is a model of typhoid like disease in humans. We have organized effectors in terms of events that happen during the infection cycle and how secreted effectors may be involved.

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...

Victoria’s Secret : a case study of maintaining brand relevance

OpenAIRE

Ponomarenko, Polina

2016-01-01

Victoria’s Secret, which belongs to L Brands group, is the leading lingerie brand in its home market, US and globally, which has substantially shaped the industry of underwear in the last decades and successfully expanded into other product categories, such as swimwear, sportswear, apparel and beauty. It has been performing well financially in the resent years under the management of its CEO, Sharen Turney, who has left the brand in the beginning of 2016 and delegated to Leslie...

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 ...

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...

The Methodical Instrumentarium for Assessing the Competitiveness of Business Model of Trade Enterprise

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Grosul Victoria A.

2017-10-01

Full Text Available The article substantiates the need to assess the competitiveness of business model of enterprise. By analyzing, systematizing and generalizing the scientific work of foreign and domestic scientists, the basic methods of assessment were allocated and the feasibility of an integrated approach to assessing the competitiveness of business model of enterprise was argued. A scorecard system for evaluating the competitiveness of business model of trade enterprise has been developed and a structural and logical framework for the integrated assessment of the competitiveness of the indicated business model has been substantiated. Based on the Ishikawa diagram, potential competitive advantages have been defined and the «problem areas» have been identified that impact the competitiveness of business model of enterprise. The authors provide recommendations for transforming the business model of trade enterprise in the context of the enterprise’s orientation towards development.

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...

Meaningful Share Generation for Increased Number of Secrets in Visual Secret-Sharing Scheme

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Mustafa Ulutas

2010-01-01

Full Text Available This paper presents a new scheme for hiding two halftone secret images into two meaningful shares created from halftone cover images. Meaningful shares are more desirable than noise-like (meaningless shares in Visual Secret Sharing because they look natural and do not attract eavesdroppers' attention. Previous works in the field focus on either increasing number of secrets or creating meaningful shares for one secret image. The method outlined in this paper both increases the number of secrets and creates meaningful shares at the same time. While the contrast ratio of shares is equal to that of Extended Visual Cryptography, two secrets are encoded into two shares as opposed to one secret in the Extended Visual Cryptography. Any two natural-looking images can be used as cover unlike the Halftone Visual Cryptography method where one cover should be the negative of the other cover image and can only encode one secret. Effectiveness of the proposed method is verified by an experiment.

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

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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.

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.

Brain sites mediating corticosteroid feedback inhibition of stimulated ACTH secretion

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jacobson, L.

1989-01-01

There is substantial evidence that the brain mediates stress-induced and circadian increases in ACTH secretion and that corticosteroid concentrations which normalize basal plasma ACTH are insufficient to normalize ACTH responses to circadian or stressful stimuli in adrenalectomized rats. To identify brain sites mediating corticosteroid inhibition of stimulated ACTH secretion, two approaches were used. The first compared brain [ 14 C]-2-deoxyglucose uptake in rats with differential ACTH responses to stress. Relative to sham-adrenalectomized (SHAM) rats, adrenalectomized rats replaced with low, constant corticosterone levels via a subcutaneous corticosterone pellet (B-PELLET) exhibited elevated and prolonged ACTH responses to a variety of stimuli. Adrenalectomized rate given a circadian corticosterone rhythm via corticosterone in their drinking water exhibited elevated ACTH levels immediately after stress, but unlike B-PELLET rats, terminated stress induced ACTH secretion normally relative to SHAMS. Therefore, the abnormal ACTH responses to stress in B-PELLET rats were due to the lack of both circadian variations and stress-induced increases in corticosterone. Hypoxia was selected as a standardized stimulus for correlating brain [ 14 C]-2-deoxyglucose uptake with ACTH secretion. In intact rats, increases in plasma ACTH and decreases in arterial PO 2 correlated with the severity of hypoxia at arterial PCO 2 below 60 mm Hg. Hypoxia PELLET vs. SHAM rats. However, in preliminary experiments, although hypoxia increased brain 2-deoxyglucose uptake in most brain regions, plasma ACTH correlated poorly with 2-deoxyglucose uptake at 12% and 10% O 2

Resource Distribution, Interprovincial Trade, and Embodied Energy: A Case Study of China

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Sanmang Wu

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Based on data from 2007 input-output tables for each province, we estimated the energy embodied in China’s interprovincial trade through input-output analysis. The results show that a sizable transfer of energy is embodied in China’s interprovincial trade, and the transfer goes from the central and western provinces, which have higher energy endowments, to the eastern and coastal provinces, which have more developed economies. The provinces with the greatest net inflow of embodied energy via interprovincial trade were Zhejiang, Guangdong, Beijing, Shandong, and Jiangsu. The provinces with the greatest net outflow of embodied energy were Inner Mongolia, Shanxi, Shaanxi, Xinjiang, and Heilongjiang. To effectively reduce China’s energy consumption, it is vital to adhere not only to the producer responsibility principle but also to the consumer responsibility principle. In particular, the economically developed provinces with substantial net inflows of embodied energy in interprovincial trade should provide support to the provinces from which the embodied energy outflows come.

Cholecystokinin inhibits gastrin secretion independently of paracrine somatostatin secretion in the pig

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Schmidt, P T; Hansen, L; Hilsted, L

2004-01-01

BACKGROUND: Cholecystokinin inhibits the secretion of gastrin from antral G cells, an effect that is speculated to be mediated by D cells secreting somatostatin. The aim of the study was to test directly whether cholecystokinin inhibition of antral gastrin secretion is mediated by somatostatin....... METHODS: The effects of CCK on gastrin and somatostatin secretion were studied in isolated vascularly perfused preparations of pig antrum before and after immunoneutralization brought about by infusion of large amounts of a high affinity monoclonal antibody against somatostatin. RESULTS: CCK infusion...... at 10(-9) M and 10(-8) M decreased gastrin output to 70.5% +/- 7.6% (n = 8) and 76.3% +/- 3.6% (n = 7) of basal output, respectively. CCK at 10(-10) M had no effect (n = 6). Somatostatin secretion was dose-dependently increased by CCK infusion and increased to 268 +/- 38.2% (n = 7) of basal secretion...

Dynamic quantum secret sharing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jia, Heng-Yue; Wen, Qiao-Yan; Gao, Fei; Qin, Su-Juan; Guo, Fen-Zhuo

2012-01-01

In this Letter we consider quantum secret sharing (QSS) between a sender and a dynamic agent group, called dynamic quantum secret sharing (DQSS). In the DQSS, the change of the agent group is allowable during the procedure of sharing classical and quantum information. Two DQSS schemes are proposed based on a special kind of entangled state, starlike cluster states. Without redistributing all the shares, the changed agent group can reconstruct the sender's secret by their cooperation. Compared with the previous quantum secret sharing scheme, our schemes are more flexible and suitable for practical applications. -- Highlights: ► We consider quantum secret sharing between a sender and a dynamic agent group, called dynamic quantum secret sharing (DQSS). ► In the DQSS, the change of the agent group is allowable during the procedure of sharing classical and quantum information. ► Two DQSS schemes are proposed based on a special kind of entangled state, starlike cluster states. ► Without redistributing all the shares, the changed agent group can reconstruct the sender's secret by their cooperation. ► Compared with the previous quantum secret sharing scheme, our schemes are more flexible and suitable for practical applications.

Maritime vessels carry more than half of growing U.S.-East Africa trade

Science.gov (United States)

2009-03-01

Trade between the United States and East African countries (defined in this special report as Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda) has grown substantially in recent years, reaching $1.3 billion in value in 2007. Between 1997 and 2007, U.S. e...

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.)

A regional perspective on the spatial concentration in Romania’s international trade in 2011

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ancuta Stangaciu

2012-12-01

Full Text Available In this study, I aimed at analyzing the territorial structure of the international trade in Romania in 2011 on the level of each development region. Starting from the values of the export and import trade flows pertaining to each region of Romania and using statistical methods of analysis, we processed the existing data in order to determine the distribution of foreign trade and to emphasize the regional poles of competitiveness from this point of view. Since other indexes, such as the trade balance or the import/export coverage ratio, are also marks of competitiveness and of the increase or decrease in the performance of a certain economy, we also calculated these indexes for each region of the country. In order to statistically substantiate the existence of a certain degree of spatial concentration of the Romanian international trade in different regions of the country, we resorted to the boxplot graphical representation and to the Gini square and the Gini index respectively.

An Assessment of the China-Korea Free Trade Agreement: Implementation Outcome and Influencing Factors

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Meiling Wang

2017-04-01

Full Text Available China-Korea Free Trade Agreement tops the list of trade volume covered by 14 FTAs China has signed with its signatory counterparts. In principle, 100 days of China-Korea Free Trade Agreement (ChKFTA into effect as of December 20, 2015, through two stages of tariff reduction and/or elimination, can result in substantial benefits for Chinese imports and/or exports firms. The paper is a pilot questionnaire study assessing the enforcement outcome of ChKFTA, based on the responding firms’ perceived observations and views of the impact of ChKFTA on their trading activities in the first quarter of 2016, and the role of related rule of origin (RoO. Such an inquiry of the relationship between rule of origin and trade in goods aims at yielding evidence for decision-making on how to optimize the outcome of ChKFTA and China’s increasing number of FTAs as well.

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...

Options of biofuel trade from Central and Eastern to Western European countries

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van Dam, J.; Faaij, A.P.C.; Lewandowski, I.M.; Van Zeebroeck, B.

2009-01-01

Central and Eastern European countries (CEEC) have a substantial biomass production and export potential. The objective of this study is to assess whether the market for biofuels and trade can be profitable enough to realize a supply of biofuels from the CEEC to the European market and to estimate

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.

Chemotherapy-Induced Regression of an Adrenocorticotropin-Secreting Pituitary Carcinoma Accompanied by Secondary Adrenal Insufficiency

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Robert Frank Cornell

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Purpose. Adrenocorticotropin- (ACTH- secreting pituitary carcinomas are rare and require multimodality treatment. The aim of this study was to report the response to various therapies and discuss the potential development of secondary adrenal insufficiency with cytotoxic chemotherapy. Methods. This report describes a man with a large silent corticotroph adenoma progressing to endogenous hypercortisolism and metastatic ACTH-secreting pituitary carcinoma over a period of 14 years. Results. Seven years after initial presentation, progressive tumor enlargement associated with the development of hypercortisolism mandated multiple pituitary tumor debulking procedures and radiotherapy. Testing of the Ki-67 proliferation index was markedly high and he developed a hepatic metastasis. Combination therapy with cisplatin and etoposide resulted in a substantial reduction in tumor size, near-complete regression of his liver metastasis, and dramatic decrease in ACTH secretion. This unexpectedly resulted in symptomatic secondary adrenal insufficiency. Conclusions. This is the first reported case of secondary adrenal insufficiency after use of cytotoxic chemotherapy for metastatic ACTH-secreting pituitary carcinoma. High proliferative indices may be predictive of dramatic responses to chemotherapy. Given the potential for such responses, the development of secondary adrenal insufficiency may occur and patients should be monitored accordingly.

Rationalities in Trade Union Practices: A Discourse Analytic Perspective on The Strategies of Three Danish Trade Unions for Professionals

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anders Buch

2015-01-01

Full Text Available The ambition of this paper is to analyze the discursive practices of three Danish trade unions for professional and managerial staff as found in their strategy and position papers. Using discourse analytic methods, the paper analyzes, discusses, and compares the strategy papers of the three unions in order to investigate how they problematize their roles and objectives. This investigation clarifies the discursive premises of the unions and it shows how these premises restrain and afford their agendas. The overall purpose of the paper is to investigate and describe the dominant logics and rationalities that shape the documents and to point to their limits and bounds. Through an archaeological investigation, the paper critically examines the implicit and tacit naturalizations made in the documents and reveals the ideological presuppositions of the discursive practices of the authors. The paper documents how “strategic management” has become an integral part of Danish trade unions practices and the paper sets out to discuss this trend in relation to the general neo-liberal decentering of the “social” and promotion of “community” as the locus of governance. Through examples from the practices of the Danish trade unions for professionals, the paper substantiates how new technologies of governance and the subjectification of union members as “customers” tend to transform the role of the trade unions from the position of “political actors” to “service providers” in the advanced liberal societies.

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.

EU emissions trading: Distinctive behavior of small companies

OpenAIRE

Naegele, Helene; Zaklan, Aleksandar

2016-01-01

The EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) is the cornerstone of the European Union's climate policy and covers just under half of the EU's greenhouse gas emissions. More than ten years since the EU ETS was first introduced, there continues to be substantial research interest regarding its functioning and the behavior of participating companies. DIW Berlin conducted three econometric studies based on microdata at company and/or installation level. The findings suggest that, overall, there are o...

Increased storage and secretion of phosphatidylcholines by senescent human peritoneal mesothelial cells.

Science.gov (United States)

Bartosova, Maria; Rudolf, Andras; Pichl, Sebastian; Schmidt, Kathrin; Okun, Jürgen G; Straub, Beate K; Rutkowski, Rafael; Witowski, Janusz; Schmitt, Claus P

2016-08-01

Human peritoneal mesothelial cells (HPMC) secrete phosphatidylcholines (PC) which form a lipid bilayer lining the peritoneum. They prevent frictions and adhesions and act as a barrier to the transport of water-soluble solutes while permitting water flux. PC may play an essential role in peritoneal integrity and function, the role of PD induced HPMC senescence on PC homeostasis, however, is unknown. HPMC cell lines were isolated from four non-uremic patients. Expression of the three PC synthesis genes (rt-PCR), and cellular storage and secretion of PC (ESI-mass-spectrometry) were analyzed in young and senescent HPMC (>Hayflick-limit). Senescent cells displayed significantly altered morphology; flow cytometry demonstrated extensive staining for senescence-associated beta galactosidase. Nine different PC were detected in HPMC with palmitoyl-myristoyl phosphatidylcholine (PMPC) being most abundant. In senescent HPMC mRNA expression of the three key PC synthesis genes was 1.5-, 2.4- and 6-fold increased as compared to young HPMC, with the latter, phosphatidylcholine cytidylyltransferase, being rate limiting. Intracellular storage of the nine PC was 75-450 % higher in senescent vs. young HPMC, PC secretion rates were 100-300 % higher. Intracellular PC concentrations were not correlated with the PC secretion rates. Electron microscopy demonstrated lamellar bodies, the primary storage site of PC, in senescent but not in young cells. Senescent HPMC store and secrete substantially more PC than young cells. Our findings indicate a novel protective mechanism, which should counteract peritoneal damage induced by chronic exposure to PD fluids.

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...

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...

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?

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.

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

Quantum strongly secure ramp secret sharing

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Zhang, Paul; Matsumoto, Rytaro Yamashita

2015-01-01

Quantum secret sharing is a scheme for encoding a quantum state (the secret) into multiple shares and distributing them among several participants. If a sufficient number of shares are put together, then the secret can be fully reconstructed. If an insufficient number of shares are put together...... however, no information about the secret can be revealed. In quantum ramp secret sharing, partial information about the secret is allowed to leak to a set of participants, called an unqualified set, that cannot fully reconstruct the secret. By allowing this, the size of a share can be drastically reduced....... This paper introduces a quantum analog of classical strong security in ramp secret sharing schemes. While the ramp secret sharing scheme still leaks partial information about the secret to unqualified sets of participants, the strong security condition ensures that qudits with critical information can...

Analysis and Design of International Emission Trading Markets Applying System Dynamics Techniques

Science.gov (United States)

Hu, Bo; Pickl, Stefan

2010-11-01

The design and analysis of international emission trading markets is an important actual challenge. Time-discrete models are needed to understand and optimize these procedures. We give an introduction into this scientific area and present actual modeling approaches. Furthermore, we develop a model which is embedded in a holistic problem solution. Measures for energy efficiency are characterized. The economic time-discrete "cap-and-trade" mechanism is influenced by various underlying anticipatory effects. With a systematic dynamic approach the effects can be examined. First numerical results show that fair international emissions trading can only be conducted with the use of protective export duties. Furthermore a comparatively high price which evokes emission reduction inevitably has an inhibiting effect on economic growth according to our model. As it always has been expected it is not without difficulty to find a balance between economic growth and emission reduction. It can be anticipated using our System Dynamics model simulation that substantial changes must be taken place before international emissions trading markets can contribute to global GHG emissions mitigation.

Dynamic secrets in communication security

CERN Document Server

Xiao, Sheng; Towsley, Donald

2013-01-01

Dynamic secrets are constantly generated and updated from messages exchanged between two communication users. When dynamic secrets are used as a complement to existing secure communication systems, a stolen key or password can be quickly and automatically reverted to its secret status without disrupting communication. 'Dynamic Secrets in Communication Security' presents unique security properties and application studies for this technology. Password theft and key theft no longer pose serious security threats when parties frequently use dynamic secrets. This book also illustrates that a dynamic

Classification of Franchise Networks in the Retail Trade

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Grygorenko Tetyana M.

2016-11-01

Full Text Available The article clarifies the definitions of the concepts of «franchise network», «franchise trade network», «franchise retail network», which is substantiated by the lack of a unified approach to interpretation of these concepts. The classification of franchise networks in the retail trade taking into account peculiarities in the operation of this sub-sector of the market economy is developed; classification attributes are identified and types of franchise retail chains are characterized. The proposed classification of franchise retail networks is adapted to the economic situation in Ukraine and specifics of the national franchise relations. It will facilitate a deeper understanding of the essence of the formation and operation of franchise retail chains and also help Ukrainian entrepreneurs to justify choosing the most suitable for them franchising model and allow to establish such a network with regard to various attributes using a complex approach.

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...

Discovery of Novel Secreted Virulence Factors from Salmonella enterica Serovar Typhimurium by Proteomic Analysis of Culture Supernatants

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Niemann, George; Brown, Roslyn N.; Gustin, Jean K.; Stufkens, Afke; Shaikh-Kidwai, Afshan S.; Li, Jie; McDermott, Jason E.; Brewer, Heather M.; Schepmoes, Athena A.; Smith, Richard D.; Adkins, Joshua N.; Heffron, Fred

2011-01-01

The intracellular pathogen Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium is a leading cause of acute gastroenteritis in the world. This pathogen has two type-III secretion systems (TTSS) necessary for virulence that are encoded in Salmonella pathogenicity islands 1 and 2 (SPI-1 and SPI-2) and are expressed during extracellular or intracellular infectious states, respectively, to deliver virulence factors (effectors) to the host cell cytoplasm. While many have been identified and at least partially characterized, the full repertoire of effectors has not been catalogued. In this mass spectrometry-based proteomics study, we identified effector proteins secreted under minimal acidic medium growth conditions that induced the SPI-2 TTSS and its effectors, and compared the secretome from the parent strain to the secretome from strains missing either essential (SsaK) or regulatory components (SsaL) of the SPI-2 secretion apparatus. We identified 75% of the known TTSS effector repertoire. Excluding translocon components, 95% of the known effectors were biased for identification in the ssaL mutant background, which demonstrated that SsaL regulates SPI-2 type III secretion. To confirm secretion to animal cells, we made translational fusions of several of the best candidates to the calmodulin-dependent adenylate cyclase of Bordetella pertussis and assayed cAMP levels of infected J774 macrophage-like cells. From these infected cells we identified six new TTSS effectors and two others that are secreted independent of TTSS. Our results substantiate reports of additional secretion systems encoded by Salmonella other than TTSS.

Trade policy and obesity prevention: challenges and innovation in the Pacific Islands.

Science.gov (United States)

Snowdon, W; Thow, A M

2013-11-01

The Pacific Island countries experience some of the highest rates of obesity in the world in part due to substantial dietary changes that mirror changes in the food supply in the region. Economic and political ties, donor aid, and trade links are key drivers of the changing availability and accessibility of processed and imported foods. Pacific Island countries have been innovative in developing trade-related policy approaches to create a less obesogenic food environment. Taxation-based approaches that affect pricing in the region include increased import and excise tariffs on sugared beverages and other high-sugar products, monosodium glutamate, and palm oil and lowered tariffs on fruits and vegetables. Other approaches highlight some higher-fat products through labeling and controlling the supply of high-fat meats. The bans on high-fat turkey tails and mutton flaps highlight the politics, trade agreements and donor influences that can be significant barriers to the pursuit of policy options. Countries that are not signatories to trade agreements may have more policy space for innovative action. However, potential effectiveness and practicality require consideration. The health sector's active engagement in the negotiation of trade agreements is a key way to support healthier trade in the region. © 2013 The Authors. Obesity Reviews published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of the International Association for the Study of Obesity.

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.

Ukraine’s trade and economic priorities in the Black sea economic cooperation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Andriy Goncharuk

2013-06-01

Full Text Available The article is devoted to the substantiation of trade and economic priorities of Ukraine’s integration into the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC. The country’s integration options have been analyzed including the Western European vs. pro-Russian integration vector, the bidirectional gravity model, and an alte — native subregional cooperation direction. Ukraine’s sectoral priorities for deepening economic cooperation with the BSEC member countries in the context of implementation of the national interests have been identified, in particular in the field of goods, transport and tourism services, and energy trading. The ways of and instruments for improving Ukraine’s trade activities within the framework of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation have been offered for the various working groups of the Organization that are focused on such areas of cooperation as macroeconomics, policy and law, finance and economics, science and technology, culture and society, infrastructure, and institutional renewal.

Immunoglobins in mammary secretions

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hurley, W L; Theil, Peter Kappel

2013-01-01

Immunoglobulins secreted in colostrum and milk by the lactating mammal are major factors providing immune protection to the newborn. Immunoglobulins in mammary secretions represent the cumulative immune response of the lactating animal to exposure to antigenic stimulation that occurs through...... the immunoglobulins found in mammary secretions in the context of their diversity of structure, origin, mechanisms of transfer, and function....

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.

Matroids and quantum-secret-sharing schemes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sarvepalli, Pradeep; Raussendorf, Robert

2010-01-01

A secret-sharing scheme is a cryptographic protocol to distribute a secret state in an encoded form among a group of players such that only authorized subsets of the players can reconstruct the secret. Classically, efficient secret-sharing schemes have been shown to be induced by matroids. Furthermore, access structures of such schemes can be characterized by an excluded minor relation. No such relations are known for quantum secret-sharing schemes. In this paper we take the first steps toward a matroidal characterization of quantum-secret-sharing schemes. In addition to providing a new perspective on quantum-secret-sharing schemes, this characterization has important benefits. While previous work has shown how to construct quantum-secret-sharing schemes for general access structures, these schemes are not claimed to be efficient. In this context the present results prove to be useful; they enable us to construct efficient quantum-secret-sharing schemes for many general access structures. More precisely, we show that an identically self-dual matroid that is representable over a finite field induces a pure-state quantum-secret-sharing scheme with information rate 1.

Extracellular secretion of recombinant proteins

Science.gov (United States)

Linger, Jeffrey G.; Darzins, Aldis

2014-07-22

Nucleic acids encoding secretion signals, expression vectors containing the nucleic acids, and host cells containing the expression vectors are disclosed. Also disclosed are polypeptides that contain the secretion signals and methods of producing polypeptides, including methods of directing the extracellular secretion of the polypeptides. Exemplary embodiments include cellulase proteins fused to secretion signals, methods to produce and isolate these polypeptides, and methods to degrade lignocellulosic biomass.

Trade in Services and Investment Flows in South Asia

OpenAIRE

Rajesh Chadha; Geethanjali Nataraj

2008-01-01

Despite being a group of contiguous countries South Asia is one of the least integrated regions in terms of intra-regional investment and trade relations. The share of services in GDP of South Asian countries has increased substantially with South Asia exhibiting a high revealed comparative advantage in commercial services and more particularly in other services including computer and information technology enabled services. Analysis of the FDI inflows in South Asia reveals that the number of...

Large-scale bioenergy production: how to resolve sustainability trade-offs?

Science.gov (United States)

Humpenöder, Florian; Popp, Alexander; Bodirsky, Benjamin Leon; Weindl, Isabelle; Biewald, Anne; Lotze-Campen, Hermann; Dietrich, Jan Philipp; Klein, David; Kreidenweis, Ulrich; Müller, Christoph; Rolinski, Susanne; Stevanovic, Miodrag

2018-02-01

Large-scale 2nd generation bioenergy deployment is a key element of 1.5 °C and 2 °C transformation pathways. However, large-scale bioenergy production might have negative sustainability implications and thus may conflict with the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) agenda. Here, we carry out a multi-criteria sustainability assessment of large-scale bioenergy crop production throughout the 21st century (300 EJ in 2100) using a global land-use model. Our analysis indicates that large-scale bioenergy production without complementary measures results in negative effects on the following sustainability indicators: deforestation, CO2 emissions from land-use change, nitrogen losses, unsustainable water withdrawals and food prices. One of our main findings is that single-sector environmental protection measures next to large-scale bioenergy production are prone to involve trade-offs among these sustainability indicators—at least in the absence of more efficient land or water resource use. For instance, if bioenergy production is accompanied by forest protection, deforestation and associated emissions (SDGs 13 and 15) decline substantially whereas food prices (SDG 2) increase. However, our study also shows that this trade-off strongly depends on the development of future food demand. In contrast to environmental protection measures, we find that agricultural intensification lowers some side-effects of bioenergy production substantially (SDGs 13 and 15) without generating new trade-offs—at least among the sustainability indicators considered here. Moreover, our results indicate that a combination of forest and water protection schemes, improved fertilization efficiency, and agricultural intensification would reduce the side-effects of bioenergy production most comprehensively. However, although our study includes more sustainability indicators than previous studies on bioenergy side-effects, our study represents only a small subset of all indicators relevant for the

45 CFR 5.65 - Exemption four: Trade secrets and confidential commercial or financial information.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... can be said to be the end product of either innovation or substantial effort. There must be a direct... commercial or financial information. 5.65 Section 5.65 Public Welfare DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES... attorney-client privilege or the work product privilege. Information may be privileged for this purpose...

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

Sweet secrets

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rasmussen, Jacob

This Working Paper presents a case study of sugar smuggling along the trade corridor between Kismayu in Somalia and Nairobi in Kenya. The trading and smuggling of sugar in the Kenya – Somalia borderlands is a dangerous, lucrative, and highly political business. The paper explores the involvement ...

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...

Pituitary-hormone secretion by thyrotropinomas.

Science.gov (United States)

Roelfsema, Ferdinand; Kok, Simon; Kok, Petra; Pereira, Alberto M; Biermasz, Nienke R; Smit, Jan W; Frolich, Marijke; Keenan, Daniel M; Veldhuis, Johannes D; Romijn, Johannes A

2009-01-01

Hormone secretion by somatotropinomas, corticotropinomas and prolactinomas exhibits increased pulse frequency, basal and pulsatile secretion, accompanied by greater disorderliness. Increased concentrations of growth hormone (GH) or prolactin (PRL) are observed in about 30% of thyrotropinomas leading to acromegaly or disturbed sexual functions beyond thyrotropin (TSH)-induced hyperthyroidism. Regulation of non-TSH pituitary hormones in this context is not well understood. We there therefore evaluated TSH, GH and PRL secretion in 6 patients with up-to-date analytical and mathematical tools by 24-h blood sampling at 10-min intervals in a clinical research laboratory. The profiles were analyzed with a new deconvolution method, approximate entropy, cross-approximate entropy, cross-correlation and cosinor regression. TSH burst frequency and basal and pulsatile secretion were increased in patients compared with controls. TSH secretion patterns in patients were more irregular, but the diurnal rhythm was preserved at a higher mean with a 2.5 h phase delay. Although only one patient had clinical acromegaly, GH secretion and IGF-I levels were increased in two other patients and all three had a significant cross-correlation between the GH and TSH. PRL secretion was increased in one patient, but all patients had a significant cross-correlation with TSH and showed decreased PRL regularity. Cross-ApEn synchrony between TSH and GH did not differ between patients and controls, but TSH and PRL synchrony was reduced in patients. We conclude that TSH secretion by thyrotropinomas shares many characteristics of other pituitary hormone-secreting adenomas. In addition, abnormalities in GH and PRL secretion exist ranging from decreased (joint) regularity to overt hypersecretion, although not always clinically obvious, suggesting tumoral transformation of thyrotrope lineage cells.

International trade and determinants of price differentials of insulin medicine.

Science.gov (United States)

Helble, Matthias; Aizawa, Toshiaki

2017-02-01

Empirical studies on pharmaceutical pricing across countries have found evidence that prices vary according to per capita income. These studies are typically based on survey data from a subset of countries and cover only one year. In this paper, we study the international trade and price of insulin by using detailed trade data for 186 importing countries from 1995 to 2013. With almost 12,000 observations, our study constitutes the largest comparative study on pharmaceutical pricing conducted so far. The large dataset allows us to uncover new determinants of price differentials. Our analysis shows that the international trade of insulin increased substantially over this time period, clearly outpacing the increasing prevalence of diabetes. Using the unit values of imports, we also study the determinants of price differentials between countries. Running various panel regressions, we find that the differences in prices across countries can be explained by the following factors: First, corroborating earlier studies, we find that per capita GDP is positively correlated with the unit price of insulin. Second, the price of insulin drugs originating from Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development countries tends to be substantially higher than for those imported from developing countries. Third, more intense competition among suppliers leads to lower insulin prices. Fourth, higher out-of-pocket payments for health care are associated with higher prices. Finally, higher volumes and tariffs seem to result in lower unit prices. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press in association with The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

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...

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 ...

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.

Semiquantum secret sharing using entangled states

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Li Qin; Chan, W. H.; Long Dongyang

2010-01-01

Secret sharing is a procedure for sharing a secret among a number of participants such that only the qualified subsets of participants have the ability to reconstruct the secret. Even in the presence of eavesdropping, secret sharing can be achieved when all the members are quantum. So what happens if not all the members are quantum? In this paper, we propose two semiquantum secret sharing protocols by using maximally entangled Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger-type states in which quantum Alice shares a secret with two classical parties, Bob and Charlie, in a way that both parties are sufficient to obtain the secret, but one of them cannot. The presented protocols are also shown to be secure against eavesdropping.

Probabilistic Infinite Secret Sharing

OpenAIRE

Csirmaz, László

2013-01-01

The study of probabilistic secret sharing schemes using arbitrary probability spaces and possibly infinite number of participants lets us investigate abstract properties of such schemes. It highlights important properties, explains why certain definitions work better than others, connects this topic to other branches of mathematics, and might yield new design paradigms. A probabilistic secret sharing scheme is a joint probability distribution of the shares and the secret together with a colle...

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.

The Effects of Secret Instructions and Yes/no Questions on Maltreated and Non-maltreated Children's Reports of a Minor Transgression.

Science.gov (United States)

Ahern, Elizabeth C; Stolzenberg, Stacia N; McWilliams, Kelly; Lyon, Thomas D

2016-11-01

This study examined the effects of secret instructions (distinguishing between good/bad secrets and encouraging disclosure of bad secrets) and yes/no questions (DID: "Did the toy break?" versus DYR: "Do you remember if the toy broke?") on 262 maltreated and non-maltreated children's (age range 4-9 years) reports of a minor transgression. Over two-thirds of children failed to disclose the transgression in response to free recall (invitations and cued invitations). The secret instruction increased disclosures early in free recall, but was not superior to no instruction when combined with cued invitations. Yes/no questions specifically asking about the transgression elicited disclosures from almost half of the children who had not previously disclosed, and false alarms were rare. DYR questions led to ambiguous responding among a substantial percentage of children, particularly younger children. The findings highlight the difficulties of eliciting transgression disclosures without direct questions. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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.

RSA-Based Secret Handshakes

OpenAIRE

Vergnaud , Damien

2006-01-01

A secret handshake mechanism allows two entities, members of a same group, to authenticate each other secretly. This primitive was introduced recently by Balfanz, Durfee, Shankar, Smetters, Staddon and Wong and, so far, all the schemes proposed are based on discrete log systems. This paper proposes three new secret handshake protocols secure against active impersonator and detector adversaries. Inspired by two RSA-based key agreement protocols introduced by Okamoto and Tanaka in 1989 and Gira...

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

International red meat trade.

Science.gov (United States)

Brester, Gary W; Marsh, John M; Plain, Ronald L

2003-07-01

The maturation of the US beef and pork markets and increasing consumer demands for convenience, safety, and nutrition suggests that the beef and pork industries must focus on product development and promotion. New marketing arrangements are developing that help coordinate production with consumer demands. The relative high levels of incomes in the United States are likely to increase the demands for branded products rather than increase total per capita consumption. Foreign markets represent the greatest opportunity for increased demand for commodity beef and pork products. Increasing incomes in developing countries will likely allow consumers to increase consumption of animal-source proteins. Real prices of beef and pork have declined substantially because of sagging domestic demand and increasing farm-level production technologies. Increasing US beef and pork exports have obviated some of the price declines. Pork attained a net export position from a quantity perspective in 1995. The United States continues to be a net importer of beef on a quantity basis but is close to becoming a net exporter in terms of value. By-products continue to play a critical role in determining the red meat trade balance and producer prices. The United States, however, must continue to become cost, price, and quality competitive with other suppliers and must secure additional market access if it is to sustain recent trade trends. Several trade tensions remain in the red meat industry. For example, mandated COOL will undoubtedly have domestic and international effects on the beef and pork sectors. Domestically, uncertainty regarding consumer demand responses or quality perceptions regarding product origin, as well as added processor-retailer costs will be nontrivial. How these factors balance out in terms of benefits versus costs to the industry is uncertain. From an international perspective, some beef and pork export suppliers to the United States could view required labeling as a

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...

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...

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.

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...

Efficient multiparty quantum-secret-sharing schemes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Xiao Li; Deng Fuguo; Long Guilu; Pan Jianwei

2004-01-01

In this work, we generalize the quantum-secret-sharing scheme of Hillery, Buzek, and Berthiaume [Phys. Rev. A 59, 1829 (1999)] into arbitrary multiparties. Explicit expressions for the shared secret bit is given. It is shown that in the Hillery-Buzek-Berthiaume quantum-secret-sharing scheme the secret information is shared in the parity of binary strings formed by the measured outcomes of the participants. In addition, we have increased the efficiency of the quantum-secret-sharing scheme by generalizing two techniques from quantum key distribution. The favored-measuring-basis quantum-secret-sharing scheme is developed from the Lo-Chau-Ardehali technique [H. K. Lo, H. F. Chau, and M. Ardehali, e-print quant-ph/0011056] where all the participants choose their measuring-basis asymmetrically, and the measuring-basis-encrypted quantum-secret-sharing scheme is developed from the Hwang-Koh-Han technique [W. Y. Hwang, I. G. Koh, and Y. D. Han, Phys. Lett. A 244, 489 (1998)] where all participants choose their measuring basis according to a control key. Both schemes are asymptotically 100% in efficiency, hence nearly all the Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger states in a quantum-secret-sharing process are used to generate shared secret information

The contribution of international trade to economic growth through human capital accumulation: Evidence from nine Asian countries

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mirajul Haq

2014-12-01

Full Text Available This study is an attempt to test the hypothesis “international trade contributes to economic growth through its effects on human capital accumulation.” To assess the hypothesis empirically, we employed the extended Neo-Classical growth model that reflects some features of the endogenous growth models. We thus ended up with a model in which the change in human capital is sensitive to change in trade policies. Unlike conventional approaches, the model serves to assess and determine the impact of international trade on the accumulation of human capital. The empirical analysis estimates dynamic panel growth equations by using a data-set of nine Asian countries, over the period 1972–2012. The overall evidence substantiates the fact that in countries under consideration, international trade enhances the accumulation of human capital and contributes to economic growth positively through human capital accumulation.

Long-term outlook for world gas trade: 1920-2015

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

MacDougall, M.W.; Linder, P.T.

1992-01-01

The World Gas Trade Model (WGTM) was designed to simulate the economic relationships of world and regional gas markets. Using the data gathered for supply, transportation and demand, the model calculated a consistent set of prices and quantities that, through time, would simultaneously satisfy all physical, behavioural and financial relations embodied in the model network. Three sensitivity cases were examined. The first one examined the effects on world gas supply, demand and trade with oil prices remaining constant throughout the study period. The second sensitivity case examined the effects of lower costs of new liquefied natural gas (LNG) liquefaction facilities. The third sensitivity case examined the effects of policy shifts in favour of natural gas over other fossil fuels for environmental reasons. During the 25-year period of the study, global production of natural gas was projected to almost double, with the overall level of final consumption being very similar to production. Results indicated that natural gas would remain predominantly a regionally traded commodity. The relatively high cost of natural gas transportation was shown to provide a substantial competitive advantage to local producers compared to more distant competitors. The cost of new liquefaction facilities was not considered to be competitive with long distance pipeline transportation. The model also indicated that reducing transportation costs or increasing the wellhead price differential between exporting and importing regions would accelerate the development of global natural gas trade. figs., tabs., refs

Importing food damages domestic environment: Evidence from global soybean trade.

Science.gov (United States)

Sun, Jing; Mooney, Harold; Wu, Wenbin; Tang, Huajun; Tong, Yuxin; Xu, Zhenci; Huang, Baorong; Cheng, Yeqing; Yang, Xinjun; Wei, Dan; Zhang, Fusuo; Liu, Jianguo

2018-05-22

Protecting the environment and enhancing food security are among the world's Sustainable Development Goals and greatest challenges. International food trade is an important mechanism to enhance food security worldwide. Nonetheless, it is widely concluded that in international food trade importing countries gain environmental benefits, while exporting countries suffer environmental problems by using land and other resources to produce food for exports. Our study shows that international food trade can also lead to environmental pollution in importing countries. At the global level, our metaanalysis indicates that there was increased nitrogen (N) pollution after much farmland for domestically cultivated N-fixing soybeans in importing countries was converted to grow high N-demanding crops (wheat, corn, rice, and vegetables). The findings were further verified by an intensive study at the regional level in China, the largest soybean-importing country, where the conversion of soybean lands to corn fields and rice paddies has also led to N pollution. Our study provides a sharp contrast to the conventional wisdom that only exports contribute substantially to environmental woes. Our results suggest the need to evaluate environmental consequences of international trade of all other major goods and products in all importing countries, which have significant implications for fundamental rethinking in global policy-making and debates on environmental responsibilities among consumers, producers, and traders across the world.

How Can Economies in Transition Pursue Emissions Trading or Joint Implementation?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Missfeldt, F.; Villavicenco, A.

2002-07-01

Under the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, economies in transition are eligible for both emissions trading (Article 17) and joint implementation (Article 6). Guiding rules for implementing these mechanisms were decided through the Marrakech Accords in November 2001. These countries may benefit substantially from those mechanisms if they are implemented appropriately. However, with the departure of the USA from the Kyoto Protocol, the likely revenues from international emissions trading for the economies in transition are likely to be limited at least during the first commitment period. A key criterion on whether countries should undertake emissions trading is the comparison of projections of emissions until 2012 with the target under the Kyoto Protocol. For joint implementation, the investment climate and the emission reductions potential of a specific project are more important. Countries that are bound by the Kyoto Protocol need to implement a clear institutional structure, which includes a JI office or a position solely in charge of JI. Even if a country decides not to engage in JI, such an office could help guide possible foreign investors

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 ...

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.

CH4 and N2O emissions embodied in international trade of meat

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Caro, Dario; Caldeira, Ken; LoPresti, Anna; Davis, Steven J; Bastianoni, Simone

2014-01-01

Although previous studies have quantified carbon dioxide emissions embodied in products traded internationally, there has been limited attention to other greenhouse gases such as methane (CH 4 ) and nitrous oxide (N 2 O). Following IPCC guidelines, we estimate non-CO 2 emissions from beef, pork and chicken produced in 237 countries over the period 1990–2010, and assign these emissions to the country where the meat is ultimately consumed. We find that, between 1990 and 2010, an average of 32.8 Mt CO 2 -eq emissions (using 100 year global warming potentials) are embodied in beef, pork and chicken traded internationally. Further, over the 20 year period, the quantity of CO 2 -eq emissions embodied in traded meat increased by 19%. The largest trade flows of emissions embodied in meat were from Brazil and Argentina to Russia (2.8 and 1.4 Mt of CO 2 -eq, respectively). Trade flows within the European region are also substantial: beef and pork exported from France embodied 3.3 Mt and 0.4 Mt of CO 2 -eq, respectively. Emissions factor of meat production (i.e. CO 2 -eq emissions per kg of meat) produced depend on ambient temperature, development level, livestock category (e.g. cattle, pork, and chicken) and livestock management practices. Thus, trade may result in an overall increase of GHG emissions when meat-consuming countries import meat from countries with a greater emissions intensity of meat production rather than producing the meat domestically. Comparing the emissions intensity of meat production of trading partners, we assess trade flows according to whether they tend to reduce or increase global emissions from meat production. (letter)

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.

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

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 ...

STRUCTURIZATION OF COMPETITIVE CAPACITY OF TRADE ORGANIZATION

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

N. A. Sеrеbrуаkоvа

2015-01-01

Full Text Available The modern consumer market is characterized by a complex of immanent tendencies of development, the competitive relations reflecting specifics inherent in it. These tendencies of development of the competitive environment of the consumer market are in many respects caused by a state and extent of use of competitive capacity of the organizations functioning in this market. This obvious circumstance causes the necessity of complex scientific research of competitive capacity of trade organizations, including its structures, for definition of prospects of its sustainable strategic development. Immanent properties of competitive capacity of trade organization allowed to study in detail its structure, by means of the substantial review of the existing options of its representation and their systematization on specific, element and system signs. In development of specific structure of competitive potential its addition commercial, technological, communication, consumer and image the potentials reflecting functional and branch specifics of activity of trade organization is offered. The system of elements of competitive capacity of trade organization is given by its structure-forming types. It is proved that these elements aren't characterized by strict distribution by types of potentials, and separate from elements are universal, accepted for simultaneous use when forming all types of potential. Allocation of a system sign of structurization of competitive potential was based on situation that "systemacity" has to be provided not so much with hierarchy of hierarchy of types and elements of potential, their interrelations, how many possibility of the accounting of various classification signs allowing to typify competitive potential as system integrity, regardless of its separate types. Those signs were the stage of a demand and level of use in economic activity, economic feasibility of existence of unrealized potential, the origin nature.

Establishing Substantial Equivalence: Transcriptomics

Science.gov (United States)

Baudo, María Marcela; Powers, Stephen J.; Mitchell, Rowan A. C.; Shewry, Peter R.

Regulatory authorities in Western Europe require transgenic crops to be substantially equivalent to conventionally bred forms if they are to be approved for commercial production. One way to establish substantial equivalence is to compare the transcript profiles of developing grain and other tissues of transgenic and conventionally bred lines, in order to identify any unintended effects of the transformation process. We present detailed protocols for transcriptomic comparisons of developing wheat grain and leaf material, and illustrate their use by reference to our own studies of lines transformed to express additional gluten protein genes controlled by their own endosperm-specific promoters. The results show that the transgenes present in these lines (which included those encoding marker genes) did not have any significant unpredicted effects on the expression of endogenous genes and that the transgenic plants were therefore substantially equivalent to the corresponding parental lines.

Substantial Union or Substantial Distinction of Mind and Body in Descartes' Metaphysics

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Fahime Jamei

2009-01-01

Full Text Available According to Descartes’ metaphysics there are two different kinds of substances in the world of creatures: “thinking substance” and “extended substance” or soul and matter. In Descartes’ philosophy the soul is equal to the mind and considered as a “thinking substance”. This immaterial substance is the essence of the human being. Body, being considered as a “matter“, is an “extended substance” and entirely distinct from the soul. The soul, therefore, exists and may be known prior to body and, not being corporeal, can exist after human death. Hence, Descartes can prove the immortality of human soul in the framework of the principle of substantial distinction. On the other hand, as a physiologist and psychologist, Descartes indeed believes in mind-body union, so that some causal interactions between mind and body show their substantial union. In this essay, the authors show that Descartes faces a serious problem in combining substantial union of mind and body with their substantial distinction; despite of his efforts in introducing the idea of pineal gland, the problem remains unsolved. Therefore it seems that as he cannot dispense with his only reason for proving the immortality of human soul, he has to hold the mind-body distinction theory in his metaphysics. Indeed, Descartes prefers to support the distinction theory rather than union theory in confronting a thesis and an antithesis stating one of two theories

Substantial :union: or Substantial Distinction of Mind and Body in Descartes\\' Metaphysics

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

f Jamei

2009-06-01

Full Text Available According to Descartes’ metaphysics there are two different kinds of substances in the world of creatures: “thinking substance” and “extended substance” or soul and matter. In Descartes’ philosophy the soul is equal to the mind and considered as a “thinking substance”. This immaterial substance is the essence of the human being. Body, being considered as a “matter“, is an “extended substance” and entirely distinct from the soul. The soul, therefore, exists and may be known prior to body and, not being corporeal, can exist after human death. Hence, Descartes can prove the immortality of human soul in the framework of the principle of substantial distinction. On the other hand, as a physiologist and psychologist, Descartes indeed believes in mind-body :union:, so that some causal interactions between mind and body show their substantial :union:. In this essay, the authors show that Descartes faces a serious problem in combining substantial :union: of mind and body with their substantial distinction despite of his efforts in introducing the idea of pineal gland, the problem remains unsolved. Therefore it seems that as he cannot dispense with his only reason for proving the immortality of human soul, he has to hold the mind-body distinction theory in his metaphysics. Indeed, Descartes prefers to support the distinction theory rather than :union: theory in confronting a thesis and an antithesis stating one of two theories.

Secretion management in the mechanically ventilated patient.

Science.gov (United States)

Branson, Richard D

2007-10-01

Secretion management in the mechanically ventilated patient includes routine methods for maintaining mucociliary function, as well as techniques for secretion removal. Humidification, mobilization of the patient, and airway suctioning are all routine procedures for managing secretions in the ventilated patient. Early ambulation of the post-surgical patient and routine turning of the ventilated patient are common secretion-management techniques that have little supporting evidence of efficacy. Humidification is a standard of care and a requisite for secretion management. Both active and passive humidification can be used. The humidifier selected and the level of humidification required depend on the patient's condition and the expected duration of intubation. In patients with thick, copious secretions, heated humidification is superior to a heat and moisture exchanger. Airway suctioning is the most important secretion removal technique. Open-circuit and closed-circuit suctioning have similar efficacy. Instilling saline prior to suctioning, to thin the secretions or stimulate a cough, is not supported by the literature. Adequate humidification and as-needed suctioning are the foundation of secretion management in the mechanically ventilated patient. Intermittent therapy for secretion removal includes techniques either to simulate a cough, to mechanically loosen secretions, or both. Patient positioning for secretion drainage is also widely used. Percussion and postural drainage have been widely employed for mechanically ventilated patients but have not been shown to reduce ventilator-associated pneumonia or atelectasis. Manual hyperinflation and insufflation-exsufflation, which attempt to improve secretion removal by simulating a cough, have been described in mechanically ventilated patients, but neither has been studied sufficiently to support routine use. Continuous lateral rotation with a specialized bed reduces atelectasis in some patients, but has not been shown

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.

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...

Incretin secretion: direct mechanisms

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Balk-Møller, Emilie; Holst, Jens Juul; Kuhre, Rune Ehrenreich

2014-01-01

The incretin hormones glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide (GIP) and glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) are secreted from gastro-intestinal K- and L-cells, respectively, and play an important role in post-prandial blood glucose regulation. They do this by direct stimulation of the pancreatic β...... enzyme responsible for incretin degradation (dipeptidyl peptidase-4) is inhibited (drugs are already on the market) while the secretion of endogenous GLP-1 secretion is stimulated at the same time may prove particularly rewarding. In this section we review current knowledge on the mechanisms for direct...

A Unifying Organ Model of Pancreatic Insulin Secretion.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Andrea De Gaetano

Full Text Available The secretion of insulin by the pancreas has been the object of much attention over the past several decades. Insulin is known to be secreted by pancreatic β-cells in response to hyperglycemia: its blood concentrations however exhibit both high-frequency (period approx. 10 minutes and low-frequency oscillations (period approx. 1.5 hours. Furthermore, characteristic insulin secretory response to challenge maneuvers have been described, such as frequency entrainment upon sinusoidal glycemic stimulation; substantial insulin peaks following minimal glucose administration; progressively strengthened insulin secretion response after repeated administration of the same amount of glucose; insulin and glucose characteristic curves after Intra-Venous administration of glucose boli in healthy and pre-diabetic subjects as well as in Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus. Previous modeling of β-cell physiology has been mainly directed to the intracellular chain of events giving rise to single-cell or cell-cluster hormone release oscillations, but the large size, long period and complex morphology of the diverse responses to whole-body glucose stimuli has not yet been coherently explained. Starting with the seminal work of Grodsky it was hypothesized that the population of pancreatic β-cells, possibly functionally aggregated in islets of Langerhans, could be viewed as a set of independent, similar, but not identical controllers (firing units with distributed functional parameters. The present work shows how a single model based on a population of independent islet controllers can reproduce very closely a diverse array of actually observed experimental results, with the same set of working parameters. The model's success in reproducing a diverse array of experiments implies that, in order to understand the macroscopic behaviour of the endocrine pancreas in regulating glycemia, there is no need to hypothesize intrapancreatic pacemakers, influences between different

24 CFR 902.79 - Substantial default.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... 24 Housing and Urban Development 4 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Substantial default. 902.79 Section... PUBLIC HOUSING ASSESSMENT SYSTEM PHAS Incentives and Remedies § 902.79 Substantial default. (a) Events or conditions that constitute substantial default. The following events or conditions shall constitute...

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...

Trade-offs in osmoregulation and parallel shifts in molecular function follow ecological transitions to freshwater in the Alewife

Science.gov (United States)

Velotta, Jonathan P.; McCormick, Stephen; Schultz, Eric T.

2015-01-01

Adaptation to freshwater may be expected to reduce performance in seawater because these environments represent opposing selective regimes. We tested for such a trade-off in populations of the Alewife (Alosa pseudoharengus). Alewives are ancestrally anadromous, and multiple populations have been independently restricted to freshwater (landlocked). We conducted salinity challenge experiments, whereby juvenile Alewives from one anadromous and multiple landlocked populations were exposed to freshwater and seawater on acute and acclimation timescales. In response to acute salinity challenge trials, independently derived landlocked populations varied in the degree to which seawater tolerance has been lost. In laboratory-acclimation experiments, landlocked Alewives exhibited improved freshwater tolerance, which was correlated with reductions in seawater tolerance and hypo-osmotic balance, suggesting that trade-offs in osmoregulation may be associated with local adaptation to freshwater. We detected differentiation between life-history forms in the expression of an ion-uptake gene (NHE3), and in gill Na+/K+-ATPase activity. Trade-offs in osmoregulation, therefore, may be mediated by differentiation in ion-uptake and salt-secreting pathways.

Nonlinear secret image sharing scheme.

Science.gov (United States)

Shin, Sang-Ho; Lee, Gil-Je; Yoo, Kee-Young

2014-01-01

Over the past decade, most of secret image sharing schemes have been proposed by using Shamir's technique. It is based on a linear combination polynomial arithmetic. Although Shamir's technique based secret image sharing schemes are efficient and scalable for various environments, there exists a security threat such as Tompa-Woll attack. Renvall and Ding proposed a new secret sharing technique based on nonlinear combination polynomial arithmetic in order to solve this threat. It is hard to apply to the secret image sharing. In this paper, we propose a (t, n)-threshold nonlinear secret image sharing scheme with steganography concept. In order to achieve a suitable and secure secret image sharing scheme, we adapt a modified LSB embedding technique with XOR Boolean algebra operation, define a new variable m, and change a range of prime p in sharing procedure. In order to evaluate efficiency and security of proposed scheme, we use the embedding capacity and PSNR. As a result of it, average value of PSNR and embedding capacity are 44.78 (dB) and 1.74t⌈log2 m⌉ bit-per-pixel (bpp), respectively.

A new generation of trade policy: potential risks to diet-related health from the trans pacific partnership agreement

Science.gov (United States)

2013-01-01

Trade poses risks and opportunities to public health nutrition. This paper discusses the potential food-related public health risks of a radical new kind of trade agreement: the Trans Pacific Partnership agreement (TPP). Under negotiation since 2010, the TPP involves Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, the USA, and Vietnam. Here, we review the international evidence on the relationships between trade agreements and diet-related health and, where available, documents and leaked text from the TPP negotiations. Similar to other recent bilateral or regional trade agreements, we find that the TPP would propose tariffs reductions, foreign investment liberalisation and intellectual property protection that extend beyond provisions in the multilateral World Trade Organization agreements. The TPP is also likely to include strong investor protections, introducing major changes to domestic regulatory regimes to enable greater industry involvement in policy making and new avenues for appeal. Transnational food corporations would be able to sue governments if they try to introduce health policies that food companies claim violate their privileges in the TPP; even the potential threat of litigation could greatly curb governments’ ability to protect public health. Hence, we find that the TPP, emblematic of a new generation of 21st century trade policy, could potentially yield greater risks to health than prior trade agreements. Because the text of the TPP is secret until the countries involved commit to the agreement, it is essential for public health concerns to be articulated during the negotiation process. Unless the potential health consequences of each part of the text are fully examined and taken into account, and binding language is incorporated in the TPP to safeguard regulatory policy space for health, the TPP could be detrimental to public health nutrition. Health advocates and health-related policymakers must be

A new generation of trade policy: potential risks to diet-related health from the trans pacific partnership agreement.

Science.gov (United States)

Friel, Sharon; Gleeson, Deborah; Thow, Anne-Marie; Labonte, Ronald; Stuckler, David; Kay, Adrian; Snowdon, Wendy

2013-10-16

Trade poses risks and opportunities to public health nutrition. This paper discusses the potential food-related public health risks of a radical new kind of trade agreement: the Trans Pacific Partnership agreement (TPP). Under negotiation since 2010, the TPP involves Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, the USA, and Vietnam. Here, we review the international evidence on the relationships between trade agreements and diet-related health and, where available, documents and leaked text from the TPP negotiations. Similar to other recent bilateral or regional trade agreements, we find that the TPP would propose tariffs reductions, foreign investment liberalisation and intellectual property protection that extend beyond provisions in the multilateral World Trade Organization agreements. The TPP is also likely to include strong investor protections, introducing major changes to domestic regulatory regimes to enable greater industry involvement in policy making and new avenues for appeal. Transnational food corporations would be able to sue governments if they try to introduce health policies that food companies claim violate their privileges in the TPP; even the potential threat of litigation could greatly curb governments' ability to protect public health. Hence, we find that the TPP, emblematic of a new generation of 21st century trade policy, could potentially yield greater risks to health than prior trade agreements. Because the text of the TPP is secret until the countries involved commit to the agreement, it is essential for public health concerns to be articulated during the negotiation process. Unless the potential health consequences of each part of the text are fully examined and taken into account, and binding language is incorporated in the TPP to safeguard regulatory policy space for health, the TPP could be detrimental to public health nutrition. Health advocates and health-related policymakers must be

Shared Secrets versus Secrets Kept Private Are Linked to Better Adolescent Adjustment

Science.gov (United States)

Frijns, Tom; Finkenauer, Catrin; Keijsers, Loes

2013-01-01

It is a household notion that secrecy is bad while sharing is good. But what about shared secrets? The present research adopts a functional analysis of sharing secrets, arguing that it should negate harmful consequences generally associated with secrecy and serves important interpersonal functions in adolescence. A survey study among 790 Dutch…

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.

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

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.

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)

On alternative approach for verifiable secret sharing

OpenAIRE

Kulesza, Kamil; Kotulski, Zbigniew; Pieprzyk, Joseph

2002-01-01

Secret sharing allows split/distributed control over the secret (e.g. master key). Verifiable secret sharing (VSS) is the secret sharing extended by verification capacity. Usually verification comes at the price. We propose "free lunch", the approach that allows to overcome this inconvenience.

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...

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...

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

Two-party secret key distribution via a modified quantum secret sharing protocol.

Science.gov (United States)

Grice, W P; Evans, P G; Lawrie, B; Legré, M; Lougovski, P; Ray, W; Williams, B P; Qi, B; Smith, A M

2015-03-23

We present and demonstrate a novel protocol for distributing secret keys between two and only two parties based on N-party single-qubit Quantum Secret Sharing (QSS). We demonstrate our new protocol with N = 3 parties using phase-encoded photons. We show that any two out of N parties can build a secret key based on partial information from each other and with collaboration from the remaining N - 2 parties. Our implementation allows for an accessible transition between N-party QSS and arbitrary two party QKD without modification of hardware. In addition, our approach significantly reduces the number of resources such as single photon detectors, lasers and dark fiber connections needed to implement QKD.

Quantitative and temporal analyses of murine antibody response in serum and gut secretions to infection with Giardia muris.

Science.gov (United States)

Snider, D P; Underdown, B J

1986-04-01

We analyzed the appearance and level of Giardia muris-specific antibody of immunoglobulin A (IgA), IgG, and IgM isotypes, at weekly intervals, over the course of a 7-week infection in BALB/c and C57BL/6 mice. Using sensitive immunoradiometric assays, we observed that IgA antibody was the only detectable anti-G. muris antibody in intestinal secretions throughout the course of infection. No secreted IgG or IgM anti-G. muris antibody was detected even in concentrated intestinal secretions. The expulsion of G. muris by the mice was associated closely with the appearance and increasing levels of secreted anti-G. muris IgA antibody. Both IgG and IgA serum antibody to G. muris were detected, but no serum IgM antibody was detected. Serum IgA and IgG anti-G. muris antibody remained at high levels up to 10 weeks following clearance of the parasite. An interesting observation indicated that serum IgA antibody to G. muris developed more slowly in response to infection than secreted IgA antibody. An analysis of the molecular weight distribution of total serum IgA in infected mice determined that infection produced a transient but significant shift in serum IgA to high-molecular-weight (greater than or equal to dimeric IgA) forms. The results indicate that a substantial IgA antibody response occurs in sera and in gut secretions of G. muris-resistant mice and that IgA antibody is the dominant and possibly the only effector antibody active in intestinal secretions during G. muris infection in mice.

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.

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...

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.

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...

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

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. ...

5 CFR 1312.27 - Top secret control.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 5 Administrative Personnel 3 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Top secret control. 1312.27 Section 1312... Classified Information § 1312.27 Top secret control. The EOP Security Officer serves as the Top Secret... Top Secret material. The ATSCOs will be responsible for the accountability and custodianship of Top...

Effect of adrenal hormones on thyroid secretion and thyroid hormones on adrenal secretion in the sheep.

Science.gov (United States)

Falconer, I R; Jacks, F

1975-01-01

1. Previous work has shown that after stressful stimuli, sheep initially secrete increased amounts of thyroid hormone, at a time when adrenal secretion is also elevated. 2. This study was designed to evaluate (a) any short-term activation or inhibition of thyroid secretion by exogenous cortisol or ACTH administered in quantities comparable to those secreted after stress in sheep and (b) any short-term effect that exogenous thyroxine or triiodothyronine may have on the concentration of plasma cortisol in the sheep. 3. Thyroid activity was measured by determination of plasma protein bound 125I (PB125I) and total 125I in thyroid vein and mixed venous (jugular) blood. Plasma cortisol and thyroxine concentrations were measured by a competitive protein-binding assay at intervals for up to 5 hr after commencement of the experiment. 4. No evidence of an activation of thyroid secretion was found during cortisol or ACTH infusion, as monitored by thyroid vein PB125I. Similarly there was no evidence of any inhibition of thyroid function, as measured by continued secretion of thyroid hormones into thyroid vein blood. 5. No effect on plasma cortisol concentration due to thyroid hormone treatment was observed. 6. It was concluded that (a) elevated circulating corticosteroids in physiological concentrations have no short-term effects on thyroid activity in the sheep and (b) the short-term alterations in thyroid and adrenal cortical secretion observed during stress in the sheep could not be attributed to direct interaction of elevated thyroid hormone concentrations with adrenal cortical secretion. PMID:170400

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.

Secretion Trap Tagging of Secreted and Membrane-Spanning Proteins Using Arabidopsis Gene Traps

Science.gov (United States)

Andrew T. Groover; Joseph R. Fontana; Juana M. Arroyo; Cristina Yordan; W. Richard McCombie; Robert A. Martienssen

2003-01-01

Secreted and membrane-spanning proteins play fundamental roles in plant development but pose challenges for genetic identification and characterization. We describe a "secretion trap" screen for gene trap insertions in genes encoding proteins routed through the secretory pathway. The gene trap transposon encodes a ß-glucuronidase reporter enzyme...

22 CFR 1421.15 - Secret ballot.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... 22 Foreign Relations 2 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 true Secret ballot. 1421.15 Section 1421.15 Foreign Relations FOREIGN SERVICE LABOR RELATIONS BOARD; FEDERAL LABOR RELATIONS AUTHORITY; GENERAL COUNSEL OF THE... THIS SUBCHAPTER § 1421.15 Secret ballot. Secret ballot means the expression by ballot, voting machine...

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

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....

Alternative protein secretion: The Mam1 ABC transporter supports secretion of M-factor linked GFP in fission yeast

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kjaerulff, Soren; Mueller, Sven; Jensen, Martin Roland

2005-01-01

To examine whether the fission yeast Mam1 ABC transporter can be used for secretion of heterologous proteins, thereby bypassing the classical secretion pathway, we have analyzed chimeric forms of the M-factor precursor. It was demonstrated that GFP can be exported when fused to both the amino-terminal prosequence from mfm1 and a CaaX motif. This secretion was dependent on the Mam1 transporter and not the classical secretion pathway. The secretion efficiency of GFP, however, was relatively low and most of the reporter protein was trapped in the vacuolar membranes. Our findings suggest that the Mam1 ABC protein is a promiscuous peptide transporter that can accommodate globular proteins of a relatively large size. Furthermore, our results help in defining the sequences required for processing and secretion of natural M-factor

29 CFR 401.11 - Secret ballot.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... 29 Labor 2 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Secret ballot. 401.11 Section 401.11 Labor Regulations Relating to Labor OFFICE OF LABOR-MANAGEMENT STANDARDS, DEPARTMENT OF LABOR LABOR-MANAGEMENT STANDARDS MEANING OF TERMS USED IN THIS SUBCHAPTER § 401.11 Secret ballot. Secret ballot means the expression by...

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

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

29 CFR 1202.4 - Secret ballot.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... 29 Labor 4 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Secret ballot. 1202.4 Section 1202.4 Labor Regulations Relating to Labor (Continued) NATIONAL MEDIATION BOARD RULES OF PROCEDURE § 1202.4 Secret ballot. In conducting such investigation, the Board is authorized to take a secret ballot of the employees involved, or...

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 ...

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.

Intra-EU agricultural trade, virtual water flows and policy implications.

Science.gov (United States)

Antonelli, M; Tamea, S; Yang, H

2017-06-01

The development of approaches to tackle the European Union (EU) water-related challenges and shift towards sustainable water management and use is one of the main objectives of Horizon 2020, the EU strategy to lead a smart, sustainable and inclusive growth. The EU is an increasingly water challenged area and is a major agricultural trader. As agricultural trade entails an exchange of water embodied in goods as a factor of production, this study investigates the region's water-food-trade nexus by analysing intra-regional virtual water trade (VWT) in agricultural products. The analysed period (1993-2011) comprises the enactment of the Water Framework Directive (WFD) in the year 2000. Aspects of the VWT that are relevant for the WFD are explored. The EU is a net importer of virtual water (VW) from the rest of the world, but intra-regional VWT represents 46% of total imports and 75% of total exports. Five countries account for 60% of total VW imports (Germany, France, Italy, The Netherlands, Belgium) and 65% of total VW exports (The Netherlands, France, Germany, Belgium and Spain). Intra-EU VWT more than doubled over the period considered, while trade with extra-EU countries did not show such a marked trend. In the same period, blue VWT increased significantly within the region and net import from the rest of the world slightly decreased. Water scarce countries, such as Spain and Italy, are major exporters of blue water in the region. The traded volumes of VW have been increasing almost monotonically over the years, and with a substantial increase after 2000. The overall trend in changes in VWT does not seem to be in accordance with the WFD goals. This study demonstrated that VWT analyses can help evaluate intertwining effects of water, agriculture and trade policies which are often made separately in respective sectors. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The Secret of Future Victories

Science.gov (United States)

1992-02-01

Copy S of 320 copies AD--A25 0 718 IDA PAPER P-265 3 THE SECRET OF FUTURE VICTORIES Paul F. Gormnan General, USA (Retired) DTIC 05M February 1992 NAY...TYPE AND DATES COVERED IFebruary 1992 Final--June 1991-January 1992 4. TITLE AND SUBTITLE 5. FUNDING NUMBERS The Secret of Future Victories C -MDA...8 2N0-102 IDA PAPER P-2653 THE SECRET OF FUTURE VICTORIES Paul F. Gorman General. LUSA (Retired) February 1992 Approved for public release

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...

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...

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.

Current Therapies That Modify Glucagon Secretion

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Grøndahl, Magnus F.; Keating, Damien J.; Vilsbøll, Tina

2017-01-01

and provide insights into how antidiabetic drugs influence glucagon secretion as well as a perspective on the future of glucagon-targeting drugs. Recent Findings: Several older as well as recent investigations have evaluated the effect of antidiabetic agents on glucagon secretion to understand how glucagon...... may be involved in the drugs’ efficacy and safety profiles. Based on these findings, modulation of glucagon secretion seems to play a hitherto underestimated role in the efficacy and safety of several glucose-lowering drugs. Summary: Numerous drugs currently available to diabetologists are capable...... of altering glucagon secretion: metformin, sulfonylurea compounds, insulin, glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists, dipeptidyl peptidase-4 inhibitors, sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 inhibitors and amylin mimetics. Their diverse effects on glucagon secretion are of importance for their individual efficacy...

Characterization of a secreted Chlamydia protease

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Shaw, A.C.; Vandahl, B.B.; Larsen, M.R.

2002-01-01

Chlamydiae are obligate intracellular bacteria that are important human pathogens. The Chlamydia genomes contain orthologues to secretion apparatus proteins from other intracellular bacteria, but only a few secreted proteins have been identified. Most likely, effector proteins are secreted in order...... to promote infection. Effector proteins cannot be identified by motif or similarity searches. As a new strategy for identification of secreted proteins we have compared 2D-PAGE profiles of [35S]-labelled Chlamydia proteins from whole lysates of infected cells to 2D-PAGE profiles of proteins from purified...... Chlamydia. Several secretion candidates from Chlamydia trachomatis D and Chlamydia pneumoniae were detected by this method. Two protein spots were identified among the candidates. These represent fragments of the 'chlamydial protease- or proteasome-like activity factor' (CPAF) and were clearly present in 2D...

EFFECTS OF SECRETABLE PLACENTAL FACTORS UPON SECRETION OF CYTOKINES BY THP-1 MONOCYTE-LIKE CELLS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ya. S. Onokhina

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Abstract. Мonocytes in feto-placental circulation are exposed to factors secreted by placental tissue. These factors influence monocyte functions in pregnancy. In present study, an in vitro model (monocyte-like THP-1 cells was used for assessing effects of soluble placental factors obtained from women with physiological pregnancies, or preeclampsia cases. The following effects of placental factors were revealed: increased secretion of VEGF by THP-1 cells along with decreased secretion of IL-6, IL-8 and MCP-1 under the influence of placental factors from the I. trimester of pregnancy in comparison with III. trimester. Secretion of IL-6 and MCP-1 by THP-1 cells was increased, and secretion of soluble TNFRII was decreased upon co-cultivation with soluble placental factors from the women with preeclampsia, as compared with placental products from physiological pregnancies.The work is supported by grants ГК № 02.740.11.0711 from Ministry of Education and Science, and НШ-3594.2010.7 grant from the President of Russian Federation.

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...

Are Preferential Trade Agreements with Non-trade Objectives a Stumbling Block for Multilateral Liberalization?

OpenAIRE

Nuno Limão

2007-01-01

In many preferential trade agreements (PTAs), countries exchange not only reductions in trade barriers but also cooperation in non-trade issues such as labour and environmental standards, intellectual property, etc. We provide a model of PTAs motivated by cooperation in non-trade issues and analyse its implications for global free trade and welfare. We find that such PTAs increase the cost of multilateral tariff reductions and thus cause a stumbling block to global free trade. This occurs bec...

Trade between China and the Netherlands: a case study of trade in tasks

NARCIS (Netherlands)

den Butter, F.A.G.; Hayat, R.

2013-01-01

Purpose - This paper argues that the recent rise in China Dutch trade is a typical example of two nations trading tasks rather than goods. Design/methodology/approach - China Dutch trade growth between 1996 and 2010 is compared with China’s trade growth with its main partners. In addition, the

5 CFR 2421.15 - Secret ballot.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 5 Administrative Personnel 3 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Secret ballot. 2421.15 Section 2421.15... FEDERAL LABOR RELATIONS AUTHORITY MEANING OF TERMS AS USED IN THIS SUBCHAPTER § 2421.15 Secret ballot. Secret ballot means the expression by ballot, voting machine or otherwise, but in no event by proxy, of a...

29 CFR 452.97 - Secret ballot.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... 29 Labor 2 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Secret ballot. 452.97 Section 452.97 Labor Regulations... OF 1959 Election Procedures; Rights of Members § 452.97 Secret ballot. (a) A prime requisite of elections regulated by title IV is that they be held by secret ballot among the members or in appropriate...

To Trade or Not to Trade: Firm-Level Analysis of Emissions Trading in Santiago, Chile

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Coria, Jessica; Loefgren, Aasa; Sterner, Thomas

2009-01-01

Whether tradable permits are appropriate for use in transition and developing economies - given special social and cultural circumstances, such as the lack of institutions and lack of expertise with market-based policies - is much debated. We conducted interviews and surveyed a sample of firms subject to emissions trading programs in Santiago, Chile, one of the first cities outside the OECD that has implemented such trading. The information gathered allow us to study what factors affect the performance of the trading programs in practice and the challenges and advantages of applying tradable permits in less developed countries

Secretive eating among youth with overweight or obesity.

Science.gov (United States)

Kass, Andrea E; Wilfley, Denise E; Eddy, Kamryn T; Boutelle, Kerri N; Zucker, Nancy; Peterson, Carol B; Le Grange, Daniel; Celio-Doyle, Angela; Goldschmidt, Andrea B

2017-07-01

Secretive eating, characterized by eating privately to conceal being seen, may reflect eating- and/or body-related shame, be associated with depression, and correlate with binge eating, which predicts weight gain and eating disorder onset. Increasing understanding of secretive eating in youth may improve weight status and reduce eating disorder risk. This study evaluated the prevalence and correlates of secretive eating in youth with overweight or obesity. Youth (N = 577) presented to five research/clinical institutions. Using a cross-sectional design, secretive eating was evaluated in relation to eating-related and general psychopathology via linear and logistic regression analyses. Secretive eating was endorsed by 111 youth, who were, on average, older than youth who denied secretive eating (mean age = 12.07 ± 2.83 versus 10.97 ± 2.31). Controlling for study site and age, youth who endorsed secretive eating had higher eating-related psychopathology and were more likely to endorse loss of control eating and purging than their counterparts who did not endorse secretive eating. Groups did not differ in excessive exercise or behavioral problems. Dietary restraint and purging were elevated among adolescents (≥13y) but not children (<13y) who endorsed secretive eating; depression was elevated among children, but not adolescents, who endorsed secretive eating. Secretive eating may portend heightened risk for eating disorders, and correlates of secretive eating may differ across pediatric development. Screening for secretive eating may inform identification of problematic eating behaviors, and understanding factors motivating secretive eating may improve intervention tailoring. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Cloned Erwinia chrysanthemi out genes enable Escherichia coli to selectively secrete a diverse family of heterologous proteins to its milieu.

Science.gov (United States)

He, S Y; Lindeberg, M; Chatterjee, A K; Collmer, A

1991-02-01

The out genes of the enterobacterial plant pathogen Erwinia chrysanthemi are responsible for the efficient extracellular secretion of multiple plant cell wall-degrading enzymes, including four isozymes of pectate lyase, exo-poly-alpha-D-galacturonosidase, pectin methylesterase, and cellulase. Out- mutants of Er. chrysanthemi are unable to export any of these proteins beyond the periplasm and are severely reduced in virulence. We have cloned out genes from Er. chrysanthemi in the stable, low-copy-number cosmid pCPP19 by complementing several transposon-induced mutations. The cloned out genes were clustered in a 12-kilobase chromosomal DNA region, complemented all existing out mutations in Er. chrysanthemi EC16, and enabled Escherichia coli strains to efficiently secrete the extracellular pectic enzymes produced from cloned Er. chrysanthemi genes, while retaining the periplasmic marker protein beta-lactamase. DNA sequencing of a 2.4-kilobase EcoRI fragment within the out cluster revealed four genes arranged colinearly and sharing substantial similarity with the Klebsiella pneumoniae genes pulH, pulI, pulJ, and pulK, which are necessary for pullulanase secretion. However, K. pneumoniae cells harboring the cloned Er. chrysanthemi pelE gene were unable to secrete the Erwinia pectate lyase. Furthermore, the Er. chrysanthemi Out system was unable to secrete an extracellular pectate lyase encoded by a gene from a closely related plant pathogen. Erwinia carotovora ssp. carotovora. The results suggest that these enterobacteria secrete polysaccharidases by a conserved mechanism whose protein-recognition capacities have diverged.

Long-term outcomes of surgery and radiotherapy for secreting and non-secreting pituitary adenoma

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, Mi Young; Kim, Jin Hee; Oh, Young Kee; Kim, El

2016-01-01

To investigate treatment outcome and long term complication after surgery and radiotherapy (RT) for pituitary adenoma. From 1990 to 2009, 73 patients with surgery and RT for pituitary adenoma were analyzed in this study. Median age was 51 years (range, 25 to 71 years). Median tumor size was 3 cm (range, 1 to 5 cm) with suprasellar (n = 21), cavernous sinus extension (n = 14) or both (n = 5). Hormone secreting tumor was diagnosed in 29 patients; 16 patients with prolactin, 12 patients with growth hormone, and 1 patient with adrenocorticotrophic hormone. Impairment of visual acuity or visual field was presented in 33 patients at first diagnosis. Most patients (n = 64) received RT as postoperative adjuvant setting. Median RT dose was 45 Gy (range, 45 to 59.4 Gy). Median follow-up duration was 8 years (range, 3 to 22 years). In secreting tumors, hormone normalization rate was 55% (16 of 29 patients). For 25 patients with evaluable visual field and visual acuity test, 21 patients (84%) showed improvement of visual disturbance after treatment. The 10-year tumor control rate for non-secreting and secreting adenoma was 100% and 58%, respectively (p < 0.001). Progression free survival rate at 10 years was 98%. Only 1 patient experienced endocrinological recurrence. Following surgery, 60% (n = 44) suffered from pituitary function deficit. Late complication associated with RT was only 1 patient, who developed cataract. Surgery and RT are very effective and safe in hormonal and tumor growth control for secreting and non-secreting pituitary adenoma

Long-term outcomes of surgery and radiotherapy for secreting and non-secreting pituitary adenoma

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kim, Mi Young; Kim, Jin Hee; Oh, Young Kee; Kim, El [Dongsan Medical Center, Keimyung University School of Medicine, Daegu (Korea, Republic of)

2016-06-15

To investigate treatment outcome and long term complication after surgery and radiotherapy (RT) for pituitary adenoma. From 1990 to 2009, 73 patients with surgery and RT for pituitary adenoma were analyzed in this study. Median age was 51 years (range, 25 to 71 years). Median tumor size was 3 cm (range, 1 to 5 cm) with suprasellar (n = 21), cavernous sinus extension (n = 14) or both (n = 5). Hormone secreting tumor was diagnosed in 29 patients; 16 patients with prolactin, 12 patients with growth hormone, and 1 patient with adrenocorticotrophic hormone. Impairment of visual acuity or visual field was presented in 33 patients at first diagnosis. Most patients (n = 64) received RT as postoperative adjuvant setting. Median RT dose was 45 Gy (range, 45 to 59.4 Gy). Median follow-up duration was 8 years (range, 3 to 22 years). In secreting tumors, hormone normalization rate was 55% (16 of 29 patients). For 25 patients with evaluable visual field and visual acuity test, 21 patients (84%) showed improvement of visual disturbance after treatment. The 10-year tumor control rate for non-secreting and secreting adenoma was 100% and 58%, respectively (p < 0.001). Progression free survival rate at 10 years was 98%. Only 1 patient experienced endocrinological recurrence. Following surgery, 60% (n = 44) suffered from pituitary function deficit. Late complication associated with RT was only 1 patient, who developed cataract. Surgery and RT are very effective and safe in hormonal and tumor growth control for secreting and non-secreting pituitary adenoma.

Extracellular secretion of a recombinant therapeutic peptide by Bacillus halodurans utilizing a modified flagellin type III secretion system

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Berger, E

2011-08-01

Full Text Available further 3.5-fold increase in the secretion of recombinant peptide fusions. Conclusions: The type III flagellar secretion system of B. halodurans has been shown to successfully secrete a therapeutic peptide as a heterologous flagellin fusion. Improvements...

Pituitary-hormone secretion by thyrotropinomas

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Roelfsema, Ferdinand; Kok, Simon; Kok, Petra; Pereira, Alberto M.; Biermasz, Nienke R.; Smit, Jan W.; Frolich, Marijke; Keenan, Daniel M.; Veldhuis, Johannes D.; Romijn, Johannes A.

2009-01-01

Hormone secretion by somatotropinomas, corticotropinomas and prolactinomas exhibits increased pulse frequency, basal and pulsatile secretion, accompanied by greater disorderliness. Increased concentrations of growth hormone (GH) or prolactin (PRL) are observed in about 30% of thyrotropinomas leading

European emissions trading - the business perspective

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pocklington, D.

2002-01-01

Annex I parties to the Kyoto Protocol will commit to reducing the emissions of the basket of greenhouse gases by the equivalent of 135 MtC by the first commitment period of 2008-2012. Within the overall target, the EU has agreed to an average reduction of 8%, although this is subject to burden sharing within an EU ''bubble'', in which there are substantial differences in Member States' allocations. The instruments for reduction are emissions trading, industrial country joint implementation and clean development mechanism. By their nature, market instruments, such as emissions trading, are reliant upon the efficient operation of the market, which in turn depends upon the full involvement of the maximum number of participants to ensure liquidity. Although emissions trading has been generally welcomed by industry, when the proposals were published, many representative organisations expressed reservations concerning its format and details. The position papers of those organisations reviewed in this article demonstrate that within industry there is a high degree of unanimity on the majority of the critical issues within the current proposal, and agreement on the components that should be included in the final version. If the Commission's ambitious timetable is to be achieved, significant changes will need to be made to the proposal, for it is unlikely to achieve early adoption in its present form, and the longer the process takes, the more the national schemes will have the opportunity to develop and ultimately shape the EU scheme that is eventually agreed. In this respect, there certainly will be ''early mover advantage'' to those Member States that have or are currently establishing their own schemes, and have the requisite political weight to impose their views. (author)

International Trade and Protectionism.

Science.gov (United States)

Stanford Univ., CA. Stanford Program on International and Cross Cultural Education.

This unit is designed to investigate the reasons for international trade and the issue of trade protectionism by focusing on the case study of the U.S. trade relationship with Taiwan. The unit begins with a simulation that highlights the concepts of global interdependence, the need for international trade, and the distribution of the world's…

Racial Trade Barriers?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bjerre, Jacob Halvas

. This paper analyzes the racial policies pursued in the foreign trade and argues that we need to recognize Aryanization as a world-wide policy in order to fully understand its character and possible consequences. I focus on the pre-war period and analyze the case of Denmark from three different perspectives......: perpetrators, victims and bystanders. The analysis will show that race, economy and foreign trade were combined in an attempt to raise racial trade barriers. This forced the question of German racial policies on the Danish government, Danish-Jewish businesses, and German companies involved in foreign trade...

Emissions Trading

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Woerdman, Edwin; Backhaus, Juergen

2014-01-01

Emissions trading is a market-based instrument to achieve environmental targets in a cost-effective way by allowing legal entities to buy and sell emission rights. The current international dissemination and intended linking of emissions trading schemes underlines the growing relevance of this

Greenhouse gas emissions trading: Cogen case studies in the early trading market

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Buerer, Mary Jean

2001-01-01

An increasing number of companies are interested in opportunities to trade their reduction in greenhouse gas emissions from cogeneration on the emerging greenhouse gas emissions market. Only the UK and Denmark currently have emissions trading schemes, but they are under development in other European countries. Two frameworks currently exist for trading. Baseline-and-credit trading is used in Canada where companies can take part in two voluntary schemes (Greenhouse Gas Emission Reduction Trading Pilot or Clean Air Canada Inc). An example project from the CHP unit at DuPont's Maitland chemical production facility is given, with details of the baselines and calculations used. The other option is company-wide emissions trading. The example given here features the CHP units at BP's refinery and chemicals operations in Texas. The potential revenue from emission reduction projects could help to boost the economics of cogeneration projects

Relative productivity levels, 1947-1973: an international comparison. [US and eight major trading partners

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Christensen, L.R. (Univ. of Wisconsin, Madison); Cummings, D.; Jorgenson, D.W.

1981-05-01

This paper provides an international comparison of levels of output, input, and productivity for the US and 8 of its major trading partners - Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Korea, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom. It first compares levels of output per capita in 1970 and allocates differences in these levels among differences in levels of capital and labor input per capita and differences in total factor productivity. Output per capita relative to the US in 1970 varied from 0.101 for Korea to 0.811 for Canada. For the industrialized countries except Canada, the range was from 0.460 for Italy to 0.721 for Germany. Variations in capital input per capita relative to the US were greater than for output, running from 0.082 for Korea to 0.920 for Canada. Again, excluding Canada, the range for industrialized countries was from 0.325 for Japan to 0.709 for Germany. Differences between levels of total factor productivity in the US and the eight remaining countries in 1970 were much smaller than differences in output per capita. Secondly, relative levels of output, input, and productivity are compared among all 9 countries for the period 1947 to 1973. The time-series results show that relative levels of output per capita between the US and its 8 trading partners have narrowed substantially during the postwar period. Levels of capital per capita have also narrowed throughout the postwar period for all countries relative to the US. Finally, relative productivity levels between the US and its major trading partners have narrowed substantially over the postwar period. For the 7 industrialized countries relative productivity levels in 1973 fell within the narrow range of 0.775 for the United Kingdom to 0.907 for Canada. For Korea the productivity gap remained very substantial; its level relative to the United States was 0.348. 46 references, 14 tables.

How fair is fair trade?

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Maseland, Robbert; Vaal, Albert de

2001-01-01

This paper investigates to what extent fair trade programmes, are indeed ‘fair’. This is accomplished by comparing fair trade with free trade and protectionist trade regimes on their compliance of the criteria set by the fair trade movement itself. This comparison is made using comparative cost

Normal and abnormal secretion by haemopoietic cells

Science.gov (United States)

STINCHCOMBE, JANE C; GRIFFITHS, GILLIAN M

2001-01-01

The secretory lysosomes found in haemopoietic cells provide a very efficient mechanism for delivering the effector proteins of many immune cells in response to antigen recognition. Although secretion shows some similarities to the secretion of specialized granules in other secretory cell types, some aspects of secretory lysosome release appear to be unique to melanocytes and cells of the haemopoietic lineage. Mast cells and platelets have provided excellent models for studying secretion, but recent advances in characterizing the immunological synapse allow a very fine dissection of the secretory process in T lymphocytes. These studies show that secretory lysosomes are secreted from the centre of the talin ring at the synapse. Proper secretion requires a series of Rab and cytoskeletal elements which play critical roles in the specialized secretion of lysosomes in haemopoietic cells. PMID:11380687

Investigating the impact of media on demand for wildlife: A case study of Harry Potter and the UK trade in owls

OpenAIRE

Megias, Diane A.; Anderson, Sean C.; Smith, Robert J.; Veríssimo, Diogo

2017-01-01

In recent decades, a substantial number of popular press articles have described an increase in demand for certain species in the pet trade due to films such as “Finding Nemo”, “Ninja turtles”, and “Harry Potter”. Nevertheless, such assertions are largely supported only by anecdotal evidence. Given the role of the wildlife trade in the spread of pathogens and zoonosis, the introduction of invasive species, the overexploitation of biodiversity, and the neglect of animal welfare, it is crucial ...

Korea's emission trading scheme and policy design issues to achieve market-efficiency and abatement targets

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Park, Hojeong; Hong, Won Kyung

2014-01-01

In 2008, the government of Republic of Korea (Korea) announced the national abatement target aiming at 30% reductions from the Business-as-Usual projections by 2020. Accordingly, the Emission Trading Scheme (ETS) will be implemented from 2015 onwards. As ETS performance substantially depends on the structural design, it is critically important to examine the details of Korean ETS for the achievement of cost effectiveness and concurrent development of an active emission trading market. This paper addresses several policy design issues for this purpose. After providing an overview on the current framework of Korean ETS, we propose ways to achieve flexibility, consistency and market efficiency of the program in consideration of the preexisting policies. Issues in policy design are discussed by focusing on allowance allocation, market stabilization measures and price mechanism in the emission and energy markets in Korea. This paper will serve as a practical guideline for establishing sustainable and market-efficient Korean ETS that can be compatible with the international standards as in the EU ETS. - Highlights: • Emission Trading Scheme (ETS) will be implemented from 2015 in Korea to reduce CO 2 . • ETS performance substantially depends on structural design. • We provide policy overview on the current framework of Korean ETS. • Several policy design issues are discussed for developing policy consistency. • We focus on allowance allocation, allowance reserve and market stabilization measures

Agricultural Trade Barriers 10 years later Uruguay Round Trade Agreement Signature

OpenAIRE

Mahia, R.; Arce, Rafael de; Escribano, Gonzalo

2005-01-01

In this paper, an analysis of current state of agricultural trade barriers is carried out alter ten years of Uruguay Round Agricultural Trade Agreement Signature The descriptive analysis showed that small advances in trade barriers removing have been taken out. About the heterogeneity in tariff applications, tariff progresivity and peak tariffs, the same situation is pointed out.

Does AFTA Create More Trade for Thailand? An Investigation of Some Key Trade Indicators

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Piriya Pholphirul

2010-04-01

Full Text Available This paper examines whether the ASEAN Free Trade Agreement (AFTA creates trade for Thailand or actually diverts it away from the country. It does this by analyzing various trade indicators: the Export Similarity Index, the Intra-Industry Trade Index, and Revealed Comparative Advantage (RCA rank correlation. By examining the patterns of trade between Thailand and other members of ASEAN, it reveals a high degree of similarity regarding the trade structure between Thailand and AFTA, which indicates that there will be fewer trade-creation benefits from AFTA and a greater likelihood of trade diversion once the AFTA scheme has been fully implemented. This similarity pattern explains the reasons for future collaboration among member countries and supportive arguments for the future extension of ASEAN ("ASEAN+". Market-penetration and development strategies should be employed by Thai exporters when accessing the ASEAN market.

Quantifying immediate price impact of trades based on the k-shell decomposition of stock trading networks

Science.gov (United States)

Xie, Wen-Jie; Li, Ming-Xia; Xu, Hai-Chuan; Chen, Wei; Zhou, Wei-Xing; Stanley, H. Eugene

2016-10-01

Traders in a stock market exchange stock shares and form a stock trading network. Trades at different positions of the stock trading network may contain different information. We construct stock trading networks based on the limit order book data and classify traders into k classes using the k-shell decomposition method. We investigate the influences of trading behaviors on the price impact by comparing a closed national market (A-shares) with an international market (B-shares), individuals and institutions, partially filled and filled trades, buyer-initiated and seller-initiated trades, and trades at different positions of a trading network. Institutional traders professionally use some trading strategies to reduce the price impact and individuals at the same positions in the trading network have a higher price impact than institutions. We also find that trades in the core have higher price impacts than those in the peripheral shell.

Protectionism, free trade and preferential trade: the Mexican experience 1970-2005

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

2007-03-01

Full Text Available This paper is a theoretical and applied analysis of free trade policies and protectionism. First, the evolution of free trade theories, vis-à-vis protectionist ideas, is described, starting from the classical economists, their assumptions and implications for attaining welfare Pareto optimality, full employment and growth. Secondly, a structural analysis of the Mexican economy’s performance in three successive but different periods, regarding trade policies for the last thirty-five years is presented. I conclude that extreme free-trade policies have not been good for economic stability, growth and employment creation in Mexico.

International trade and employment: trade partner country effects on jobs and wages

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Fortanier, F.N.; Jaarsma, M.; Korvorst, M.

2011-01-01

Recent academic research has consistently identified trading firms - both exporters and importers - to be larger, and to pay higher wages than their non-trading counterparts. However, not all trade is equal: imports from low-wage countries may destroy employment, particularly among low-skilled

40 CFR 90.206 - Trading.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 20 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Trading. 90.206 Section 90.206... Trading Provisions § 90.206 Trading. (a) An engine manufacturer may exchange emission credits with other engine manufacturers in trading, subject to the trading restriction specified in § 90.207(c)(2). (b...

International trade. Multinational aspects.

Science.gov (United States)

Ozawa, Y

2000-01-01

Of numerous regional economic agreements, the European Union (EU), the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), South American Common Market (MERCOSUR), the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) and the Australia-New Zealand Closer Economic Relations Agreement are examples that are actively pursuing regional integration for freer trade of animals and animal products. The World Trade Organization (WTO) believes that regional and multinational integration initiatives are complements rather than alternatives in the pursuit of more open trade. In the efforts to harmonize SPS standards among multilateral trading nations, it is recommended that national requirements meet the standards developed by the OIE and the FAO/WHO Codex Alimentarius Commission as the minimum requirements rather than adopting the standards of the lowest common denominator. Regional grouping may hinder multilateral or bilateral trade between the countries of a group and those of the other groups. How to eliminate such non-tariff barriers as traditional trade custom remains to be examined. Ongoing activities of VICH (Harmonisation of Technical Requirements for Registration of Veterinary Medical Products) may pave the way for more open trade in pharmaceutical products between multilateral regional groups.

Physiology of bile secretion.

Science.gov (United States)

Esteller, Alejandro

2008-10-07

The formation of bile depends on the structural and functional integrity of the bile-secretory apparatus and its impairment, in different situations, results in the syndrome of cholestasis. The structural bases that permit bile secretion as well as various aspects related with its composition and flow rate in physiological conditions will first be reviewed. Canalicular bile is produced by polarized hepatocytes that hold transporters in their basolateral (sinusoidal) and apical (canalicular) plasma membrane. This review summarizes recent data on the molecular determinants of this primary bile formation. The major function of the biliary tree is modification of canalicular bile by secretory and reabsorptive processes in bile-duct epithelial cells (cholangiocytes) as bile passes through bile ducts. The mechanisms of fluid and solute transport in cholangiocytes will also be discussed. In contrast to hepatocytes where secretion is constant and poorly controlled, cholangiocyte secretion is regulated by hormones and nerves. A short section dedicated to these regulatory mechanisms of bile secretion has been included. The aim of this revision was to set the bases for other reviews in this series that will be devoted to specific issues related with biliary physiology and pathology.

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

Organ Trade

NARCIS (Netherlands)

J.A.E. Ambagtsheer (Frederike)

2017-01-01

markdownabstractOrgan trade constitutes the sale and purchase of organs for financial or material gain. Although prohibited since the 1980s, an increasing number of reports indicate its proliferation across the globe. Yet, many knowledge gaps exist on organ trade, in particular on the demand -and

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

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.

Preferential Trade Arrangements and the Pattern of Production and Trade when Inputs are Differentiated

NARCIS (Netherlands)

J.F. François (Joseph)

2005-01-01

textabstractThis paper is concerned with rules of origin when intermediate goods are differentiated. An analytical model emphasizes trade patterns and the relative importance of trade in intermediates given trade preferences. Econometric evidence based on intra-OECD trade in motor vehicles and motor

Biological trade and markets.

Science.gov (United States)

Hammerstein, Peter; Noë, Ronald

2016-02-05

Cooperation between organisms can often be understood, like trade between merchants, as a mutually beneficial exchange of services, resources or other 'commodities'. Mutual benefits alone, however, are not sufficient to explain the evolution of trade-based cooperation. First, organisms may reject a particular trade if another partner offers a better deal. Second, while human trade often entails binding contracts, non-human trade requires unwritten 'terms of contract' that 'self-stabilize' trade and prevent cheating even if all traders strive to maximize fitness. Whenever trading partners can be chosen, market-like situations arise in nature that biologists studying cooperation need to account for. The mere possibility of exerting partner choice stabilizes many forms of otherwise cheatable trade, induces competition, facilitates the evolution of specialization and often leads to intricate forms of cooperation. We discuss selected examples to illustrate these general points and review basic conceptual approaches that are important in the theory of biological trade and markets. Comparing these approaches with theory in economics, it turns out that conventional models-often called 'Walrasian' markets-are of limited relevance to biology. In contrast, early approaches to trade and markets, as found in the works of Ricardo and Cournot, contain elements of thought that have inspired useful models in biology. For example, the concept of comparative advantage has biological applications in trade, signalling and ecological competition. We also see convergence between post-Walrasian economics and biological markets. For example, both economists and biologists are studying 'principal-agent' problems with principals offering jobs to agents without being sure that the agents will do a proper job. Finally, we show that mating markets have many peculiarities not shared with conventional economic markets. Ideas from economics are useful for biologists studying cooperation but need

Managing the trade-public health linkage in defence of trade ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Managing the trade-public health linkage in defence of trade liberalisation and ... of United States-measures affecting the production and sale of clove cigarettes. ... Potchefstroom Electronic Law Journal/Potchefstroomse Elektroniese Regsblad.

Is the Classification of International Trade in Horizontal and Vertical Intra-Industry Trade Usable?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nielsen, Jørgen Ulff-Møller; Lüthje, Teit

2001-01-01

with vertical intra-industry trade (between Germany and France) making up 50-60%. The high level of vertical intra-industry trade probably covers up many products shifting between e.g. vertical and horizontal intra-industry. The statement from the literature that the European integration process involves heavy......Abstract On the basis of OECD trade statistics at SITC 5 digit level for the period 1961-1999 we show the classification of international trade in (a) inter-industry trade and (b) horizontal intra-industry and (c) vertical intra-industry trade used in the empirical trade literature to be non stable...... at the individual product level. This indicates that this type of statistical classification based on unit-values is probably not very useful. On the other hand, we also show in accordance with the literature that the aggregate distribution of trade into the three categories apparently is rather stable...

Unconventional Pathways of Secretion Contribute to Inflammation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Michael J. D. Daniels

2017-01-01

Full Text Available In the conventional pathway of protein secretion, leader sequence-containing proteins leave the cell following processing through the endoplasmic reticulum (ER and Golgi body. However, leaderless proteins also enter the extracellular space through mechanisms collectively known as unconventional secretion. Unconventionally secreted proteins often have vital roles in cell and organism function such as inflammation. Amongst the best-studied inflammatory unconventionally secreted proteins are interleukin (IL-1β, IL-1α, IL-33 and high-mobility group box 1 (HMGB1. In this review we discuss the current understanding of the unconventional secretion of these proteins and highlight future areas of research such as the role of nuclear localisation.

Proton pump inhibitors inhibit pancreatic secretion

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Wang, Jing; Barbuskaite, Dagne; Tozzi, Marco

2015-01-01

+/K+-ATPases are expressed and functional in human pancreatic ducts and whether proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) have effect on those. Here we show that the gastric HKα1 and HKβ subunits (ATP4A; ATP4B) and non-gastric HKα2 subunits (ATP12A) of H+/K+-ATPases are expressed in human pancreatic cells. Pumps have similar...... of major ions in secretion follow similar excretory curves in control and PPI treated animals. In addition to HCO3-, pancreas also secretes K+. In conclusion, this study calls for a revision of the basic model for HCO3- secretion. We propose that proton transport is driving secretion, and that in addition...

Hoopoes color their eggs with antimicrobial uropygial secretions

Science.gov (United States)

Soler, Juan J.; Martín-Vivaldi, M.; Peralta-Sánchez, J. M.; Arco, L.; Juárez-García-Pelayo, N.

2014-09-01

Uropygial gland secretions are used as cosmetics by some species of birds to color and enhance properties of feathers and teguments, which may signal individual quality. Uropygial secretions also reach eggshells during incubation and, therefore, may influence the coloration of birds' eggs, a trait that has attracted the attention of evolutionary biologists for more than one century. The color of hoopoe eggs typically changes along incubation, from bluish-gray to greenish-brown. Here, we test experimentally the hypothesis that dark uropygial secretion of females is responsible for such drastic color change. Moreover, since uropygial secretion of hoopoes has antimicrobial properties, we also explore the association between color and antimicrobial activity of the uropygial secretion of females. We found that eggs stayed bluish-gray in nests where female access to the uropygial secretion was experimentally blocked. Furthermore, experimental eggs that were maintained in incubators and manually smeared with uropygial secretion experienced similar color changes that naturally incubated eggs did, while control eggs that were not in contact with the secretions did not experience such color changes. All these results strongly support the hypothesis that female hoopoes use their uropygial gland secretion to color the eggs. Moreover, saturation of the uropygial secretion was associated with antimicrobial activity against Bacillus licheniformis. Given the known antimicrobial potential of uropygial secretions of birds, this finding opens the possibility that in scenarios of sexual selection, hoopoes in particular and birds in general signal antimicrobial properties of their uropygial secretion by mean of changes in egg coloration along incubation.

The future of coal trading. Part 1: obstacles to coal trading

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schafer, W.; Vaninetti, J.

1998-01-01

'Trading' as used in this article means routine buying and selling of futures contracts or options and other derivatives of future contracts. The variable nature of coal, lack of liquidity, and the coal industry's understanding and acceptance of commodity trading concepts are identified as three major barriers to successful trading of a coal futures contract. The article discusses these obstacles

48 CFR 52.225-4 - Buy American Act-Free Trade Agreement-Israeli Trade Act Certificate.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... Trade Agreement-Israeli Trade Act Certificate. 52.225-4 Section 52.225-4 Federal Acquisition Regulations... CLAUSES Text of Provisions and Clauses 52.225-4 Buy American Act—Free Trade Agreement—Israeli Trade Act... Agreement—Israeli Trade Act Certificate (JUN 2009) (a) The offeror certifies that each end product, except...

Insight into trade-off between wood decay and parasitism from the genome of a fungal forest pathogen

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Olson, Ake; Aerts, Andrea; Asiegbu, Fred; Belbahri, Lassaad; Bouzid, Ourdia; Broberg, Anders; Canback, Bjorn; Coutinho, Pedro M.; Cullen, Dan; Dalman, Kerstin; Deflorio, Giuliana; van Diepen, Linda T. A.; Dunand, Christophe; Duplessis, Sebastien; Durling, Mikael; Gonthier, Paolo; Grimwood, Jane; Fossdal, Carl Gunnar; Hansson, David; Henrissat, Bernard; Hietala, Ari; Himmelstrand, Kajsa; Hoffmeister, Dirk; Hogberg, Nils; James, Timothy Y.; Karlsson, Magnus; Kohler, Annegret; Lucas, Susan; Lunden, Karl; Morin, Emmanuelle; Murat, Claude; Park, Jongsun; Raffaello, Tommaso; Rouze, Pierre; Salamov, Asaf; Schmutz, Jeremy; Solheim, Halvor; Stahlberg, Jerry; Velez, Heriberto; de Vries, Ronald P.; Wiebenga, Ad; Woodward, Steve; Yakovlev, Igor; Garbelotto, Matteo; Martin, Francis; Grigoriev, Igor V.; Stenlid, Jan

2012-01-01

Parasitism and saprotrophic wood decay are two fungal strategies fundamental for succession and nutrient cycling in forest ecosystems. An opportunity to assess the trade-off between these strategies is provided by the forest pathogen and wood decayer Heterobasidion annosum sensu lato. We report the annotated genome sequence and transcript profiling, as well as the quantitative trait loci mapping, of one member of the species complex: H. irregulare. Quantitative trait loci critical for pathogenicity, and rich in transposable elements, orphan and secreted genes, were identified. A wide range of cellulose-degrading enzymes are expressed during wood decay. By contrast, pathogenic interaction between H. irregulare and pine engages fewer carbohydrate-active enzymes, but involves an increase in pectinolytic enzymes, transcription modules for oxidative stress and secondary metabolite production. Our results show a trade-off in terms of constrained carbohydrate decomposition and membrane transport capacity during interaction with living hosts. Our findings establish that saprotrophic wood decay and necrotrophic parasitism involve two distinct, yet overlapping, processes.

Canadian municipal carbon trading primer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Seskus, A.

2002-01-01

The trading of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions is being suggested as an effective economic way to meet Canada's Kyoto target. Emissions trading is a market-based instrument that can help achieve environmental improvements while using the market to absorb the economical and effective measures to achieve emissions reductions. Placing a value on emissions means that in order to minimize costs, companies will be motivated to apply the lowest-cost emission reductions possible for regulatory approval. The two main types of emissions trading that exist in Canada are the trading of emissions that lead to the formation of smog or acid rain, and the trading of greenhouse gas emissions that lead to climate change. Since carbon dioxide is the most prevalent GHG, making up approximately 75 per cent of Canadian GHG emissions, the trading of units of GHGs is often referred to as carbon trading. The impact that emissions trading will have on municipal operations was the focus of this primer. The trading of GHG involves buying and selling of allowances of GHGs between contracting parties, usually between one party that is short of GHG credits and another that has excess credits. The 3 common approaches to emissions trading include allowance trading (cap and trade), credit trading (baseline and credit), and a hybrid system which combines both credit and allowance trading systems. The issues that impact municipalities include the debate regarding who owns the credits from landfills, particularly if power is generated using landfill gas and the power is sold as green power. Other viable questions were also addressed, including who can claim emission reduction credits if a city implements energy efficiency projects, or fuel substitution programs. Also, will municipalities be allowed to trade internationally, for example, with municipalities in the United States, and how should they spend their money earned from selling credits. This report also presents highlights from 3 emissions

The role of jasmonates in floral nectar secretion.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Venkatesan Radhika

Full Text Available Plants produce nectar in their flowers as a reward for their pollinators and most of our crops depend on insect pollination, but little is known on the physiological control of nectar secretion. Jasmonates are well-known for their effects on senescence, the development and opening of flowers and on plant defences such as extrafloral nectar. Their role in floral nectar secretion has, however, not been explored so far. We investigated whether jasmonates have an influence on floral nectar secretion in oil-seed rape, Brassica napus. The floral tissues of this plant produced jasmonic acid (JA endogenously, and JA concentrations peaked shortly before nectar secretion was highest. Exogenous application of JA to flowers induced nectar secretion, which was suppressed by treatment with phenidone, an inhibitor of JA synthesis. This effect could be reversed by additional application of JA. Jasmonoyl-isoleucine and its structural mimic coronalon also increased nectar secretion. Herbivory or addition of JA to the leaves did not have an effect on floral nectar secretion, demonstrating a functional separation of systemic defence signalling from reproductive nectar secretion. Jasmonates, which have been intensively studied in the context of herbivore defences and flower development, have a profound effect on floral nectar secretion and, thus, pollination efficiency in B. napus. Our results link floral nectar secretion to jasmonate signalling and thereby integrate the floral nectar secretion into the complex network of oxylipid-mediated developmental processes of plants.

77 FR 31393 - Labor Advisory Committee for Trade Negotiations and Trade Policy

Science.gov (United States)

2012-05-25

... DEPARTMENT OF LABOR Office of the Secretary Labor Advisory Committee for Trade Negotiations and Trade Policy ACTION: Notice of renewal. SUMMARY: Pursuant to the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA), as amended (5 U.S.C. App. 2), the Secretary of Labor and the United States Trade Representative have...

Judicial aspects of emission trade. Emission trade in the European Union

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Van Beuge, M.J.J.

2004-01-01

Emission trade will start in Europe in 2005. In a series of articles an overview will be given of several juridical aspects with respect to the international and national trade of emission. In part 1 attention was paid to the international judicial basis for the present climate policy. In this article an overview is given of developments with regard to emission trade in the European Union [nl

Green certificate trading in the Netherlands in the prospect of the European electricity market

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dinica, Valentina; Arentsen, Maarten J.

2003-01-01

The support system for green electricity in the Netherlands has been one of the most complex and complicated systems across Europe. A voluntary trade of green certificates--or green labels--was one of the schemes used in the policy models of the 1990s. The liberalization of the electricity market has attracted substantial changes in the degree and nature of commitment by energy companies and political authorities for renewable electricity. In 2001, a new mechanism for the voluntary trade of green certificates has become operational, replacing the green label trade system one terminated in the end of 2000. This paper presents the two systems of green certificates' trade developed in the Netherlands and discusses their market stimulation potential in the very different economic and industrial circumstances that has surrounded each of them. The paper argues for a need to enable a support system that reduces investment risks as much as possible, and removes the residual, but still strong, institutional, administrative and social barriers for renewables' deployment. But before this, a clear governmental vision on the role of renewables in current energy supply systems is first needed, backed by a coherent policy and sufficient support along the economic dimension of renewables' market diffusion

Secret-key expansion from covert communication

Science.gov (United States)

Arrazola, Juan Miguel; Amiri, Ryan

2018-02-01

Covert communication allows the transmission of messages in such a way that it is not possible for adversaries to detect that the communication is occurring. This provides protection in situations where knowledge that two parties are talking to each other may be incriminating to them. In this work, we study how covert communication can be used for a different purpose: secret key expansion. First, we show that any message transmitted in a secure covert protocol is also secret and therefore unknown to an adversary. We then propose a covert communication protocol where the amount of key consumed in the protocol is smaller than the transmitted key, thus leading to secure secret key expansion. We derive precise conditions for secret key expansion to occur, showing that it is possible when there are sufficiently low levels of noise for a given security level. We conclude by examining how secret key expansion from covert communication can be performed in a computational security model.

Trading volume and the number of trades : a comparative study using high frequency data

OpenAIRE

Izzeldin, Marwan

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...

Pancreatic bicarbonate secretion involves two proton pumps

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Novak, Ivana; Wang, Jing; Henriksen, Katrine L.

2011-01-01

Pancreas secretes fluid rich in digestive enzymes and bicarbonate. The alkaline secretion is important in buffering of acid chyme entering duodenum and for activation of enzymes. This secretion is formed in pancreatic ducts, and studies to date show that plasma membranes of duct epithelium expres...

Gastric secretion elicited by conditioning in rats.

Science.gov (United States)

Caboclo, José Liberato Ferreira; Cury, Francico de Assis; Borin, Aldenis Albanese; Caboclo, Luís Otávio Sales Ferreira; Ribeiro, Maria Fernanda Sales Caboclo; de Freitas, Pedro José; Andersson, Sven

2009-01-01

To investigate whether interdigestive gastric acid secretion can be controlled by a possible memory-related cortical mechanism. To evaluate gastric secretion in rats, we used a methodology that allows gastric juice collection in rats in their habitual conditions (without any restraining) by pairing sound as the conditioning stimulus (CS) and food as the unconditioning stimulus (US). The levels of gastric acid secretion under basal conditions and under sound stimulation were recorded and the circulating gastrin levels determined. When the gastric juice was collected in the course of the conditioning procedure, the results showed that under noise stimulation a significant increase in gastric acid secretion occurred after 10 days of conditioning (p<0.01). The significance was definitively demonstrated after 13 days of conditioning (p<0.001). Basal secretions of the conditioned rats reached a significant level after 16 days of conditioning. The levels of noise-stimulated gastric acid secretion were the highest so far described in physiological experiments carried out in rats and there were no significant increases in the circulating gastrin levels. The results point to the important role played by cortical structures in the control of interdigestive gastric acid secretion in rats. If this mechanism is also present in humans, it may be involved in diseases caused by inappropriate gastric acid secretion during the interprandial periods.

THE IMPLICATIONS OF VARYING EXCHANGE RATES FOR THE INTERNATIONAL TRADE

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sandu Carmen

2011-07-01

Full Text Available The benefit of international trade is a more efficient employment of the productive forces of the world. (John Stuart Mill The exchange rate is a primary factor that influences economy. This instrument is used by some countries in order to improve the lack of balance caused as a result of the financial crisis felt in many countries considered by then infallible. The negative effects of the financial crisis can also be found in the decreased volume of commodities involved in international trade exchanges, as a consequence of modified prices and decreased offer. The globalizing trend leads to a constant expansion of exchanges between countries and to the consolidation of international cooperation. Except that economic interdependence generates an increased risk under the influence of economic, financial, monetary or political factors. The currency risk can generate either a gain or loss during foreign trade operations. The long period of RON depreciation made possible the entry of Romanian products on the international markets due to their prices. Sheltered by the gain generated by the evolution of the exchange rate, most of the exporters were not concerned by the increase of product competitiveness or by avoiding the currency risk. The fact that, for many years, the evolution of the exchange rate generated substantial losses for the exporters shows that risk coverage in Romania is, in most cases, a purely theoretical concept.

Trade Remedies: A Primer

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Jones, Vivian C

2006-01-01

The United States and many of its trading partners use laws known as trade remedies to mitigate the adverse impact of various trade practices on domestic industries and workers. U.S. antidumping laws (19 U.S.C. 1673 et seq...

Trade Remedies: A Primer

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Jones, Vivian C

2007-01-01

The United States and many of its trading partners use laws known as trade remedies to mitigate the adverse impact of various trade practices on domestic industries and workers. U.S. antidumping (AD) laws (19 U.S.C. 1673 et seq...

Trade Remedies: A Primer

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Jones, Vivian C

2008-01-01

The United States and many of its trading partners use laws known as trade remedies to mitigate the adverse impact of various trade practices on domestic industries and workers. U.S. antidumping (AD) laws (19 U.S.C. 1673 et seq...

Air Force UAV’s: The Secret History

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

iA Mitchell Institute Study i Air Force UAVs The Secret History A Mitchell Institute Study July 2010 By Thomas P. Ehrhard Report Documentation Page...DATES COVERED 00-00-2010 to 00-00-2010 4. TITLE AND SUBTITLE Air Force UAVs The Secret History 5a. CONTRACT NUMBER 5b. GRANT NUMBER 5c... The Secret History 2 Air Force UAVs: The Secret History2 air Force uaVs: The secret history Has any airplane in the past decade captured the public

Captive Reptile Mortality Rates in the Home and Implications for the Wildlife Trade

Science.gov (United States)

Robinson, Janine E.; St. John, Freya A. V.; Griffiths, Richard A.; Roberts, David L.

2015-01-01

The trade in wildlife and keeping of exotic pets is subject to varying levels of national and international regulation and is a topic often attracting controversy. Reptiles are popular exotic pets and comprise a substantial component of the live animal trade. High mortality of traded animals raises welfare concerns, and also has implications for conservation if collection from the wild is required to meet demand. Mortality of reptiles can occur at any stage of the trade chain from collector to consumer. However, there is limited information on mortality rates of reptiles across trade chains, particularly amongst final consumers in the home. We investigated mortality rates of reptiles amongst consumers using a specialised technique for asking sensitive questions, additive Randomised Response Technique (aRRT), as well as direct questioning (DQ). Overall, 3.6% of snakes, chelonians and lizards died within one year of acquisition. Boas and pythons had the lowest reported mortality rates of 1.9% and chameleons had the highest at 28.2%. More than 97% of snakes, 87% of lizards and 69% of chelonians acquired by respondents over five years were reported to be captive bred and results suggest that mortality rates may be lowest for captive bred individuals. Estimates of mortality from aRRT and DQ did not differ significantly which is in line with our findings that respondents did not find questions about reptile mortality to be sensitive. This research suggests that captive reptile mortality in the home is rather low, and identifies those taxa where further effort could be made to reduce mortality rates. PMID:26556237

Captive Reptile Mortality Rates in the Home and Implications for the Wildlife Trade.

Science.gov (United States)

Robinson, Janine E; St John, Freya A V; Griffiths, Richard A; Roberts, David L

2015-01-01

The trade in wildlife and keeping of exotic pets is subject to varying levels of national and international regulation and is a topic often attracting controversy. Reptiles are popular exotic pets and comprise a substantial component of the live animal trade. High mortality of traded animals raises welfare concerns, and also has implications for conservation if collection from the wild is required to meet demand. Mortality of reptiles can occur at any stage of the trade chain from collector to consumer. However, there is limited information on mortality rates of reptiles across trade chains, particularly amongst final consumers in the home. We investigated mortality rates of reptiles amongst consumers using a specialised technique for asking sensitive questions, additive Randomised Response Technique (aRRT), as well as direct questioning (DQ). Overall, 3.6% of snakes, chelonians and lizards died within one year of acquisition. Boas and pythons had the lowest reported mortality rates of 1.9% and chameleons had the highest at 28.2%. More than 97% of snakes, 87% of lizards and 69% of chelonians acquired by respondents over five years were reported to be captive bred and results suggest that mortality rates may be lowest for captive bred individuals. Estimates of mortality from aRRT and DQ did not differ significantly which is in line with our findings that respondents did not find questions about reptile mortality to be sensitive. This research suggests that captive reptile mortality in the home is rather low, and identifies those taxa where further effort could be made to reduce mortality rates.

Captive Reptile Mortality Rates in the Home and Implications for the Wildlife Trade.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Janine E Robinson

Full Text Available The trade in wildlife and keeping of exotic pets is subject to varying levels of national and international regulation and is a topic often attracting controversy. Reptiles are popular exotic pets and comprise a substantial component of the live animal trade. High mortality of traded animals raises welfare concerns, and also has implications for conservation if collection from the wild is required to meet demand. Mortality of reptiles can occur at any stage of the trade chain from collector to consumer. However, there is limited information on mortality rates of reptiles across trade chains, particularly amongst final consumers in the home. We investigated mortality rates of reptiles amongst consumers using a specialised technique for asking sensitive questions, additive Randomised Response Technique (aRRT, as well as direct questioning (DQ. Overall, 3.6% of snakes, chelonians and lizards died within one year of acquisition. Boas and pythons had the lowest reported mortality rates of 1.9% and chameleons had the highest at 28.2%. More than 97% of snakes, 87% of lizards and 69% of chelonians acquired by respondents over five years were reported to be captive bred and results suggest that mortality rates may be lowest for captive bred individuals. Estimates of mortality from aRRT and DQ did not differ significantly which is in line with our findings that respondents did not find questions about reptile mortality to be sensitive. This research suggests that captive reptile mortality in the home is rather low, and identifies those taxa where further effort could be made to reduce mortality rates.

Trading network predicts stock price.

Science.gov (United States)

Sun, Xiao-Qian; Shen, Hua-Wei; Cheng, Xue-Qi

2014-01-16

Stock price prediction is an important and challenging problem for studying financial markets. Existing studies are mainly based on the time series of stock price or the operation performance of listed company. In this paper, we propose to predict stock price based on investors' trading behavior. For each stock, we characterize the daily trading relationship among its investors using a trading network. We then classify the nodes of trading network into three roles according to their connectivity pattern. Strong Granger causality is found between stock price and trading relationship indices, i.e., the fraction of trading relationship among nodes with different roles. We further predict stock price by incorporating these trading relationship indices into a neural network based on time series of stock price. Experimental results on 51 stocks in two Chinese Stock Exchanges demonstrate the accuracy of stock price prediction is significantly improved by the inclusion of trading relationship indices.

15 CFR 400.45 - Retail trade.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 15 Commerce and Foreign Trade 2 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Retail trade. 400.45 Section 400.45 Commerce and Foreign Trade Regulations Relating to Commerce and Foreign Trade (Continued) FOREIGN-TRADE ZONES BOARD, DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE REGULATIONS OF THE FOREIGN-TRADE ZONES BOARD Zone Operations and...

Environmentally damaging electricity trade

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Billette de Villemeur, Etienne; Pineau, Pierre-Olivier

2010-01-01

Electricity trade across regions is often considered welfare enhancing. We show in this paper that this should be reconsidered if environmental externalities are taken into account. We consider two cases where trade is beneficial, before accounting for environmental damages: first, when two regions with the same technology display some demand heterogeneity; second when one region endowed with hydropower arbitrages with its 'thermal' neighbor. Our results show that under reasonable demand and supply elasticities, trade comes with an additional environmental cost. This calls for integrating environmental externalities into market reforms when redesigning the electricity sector. Two North American applications illustrate our results: trade between Pennsylvania and New York, and trade between hydro-rich Quebec and New York.

Online stock trading platform

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ion LUNGU

2006-01-01

Full Text Available The Internet is the perfect tool that can assure the market’s transparency for any user who wants to trade on the stock market. The investor can have access to the market news, financial calendar or the press releases of the issuers. A good online trading platform also provides real-time intraday quotes, trading history and technical analysis giving the investor a clearer view of the supply and demand in the market. All this information provides the investor a good image of the market and encourages him to trade. This paper wishes to draft the pieces of an online trading platform and to analyze the impact of developing and implementing one in a brokerage firm.

A quantum secret-sharing protocol with fairness

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Liu, Feng; Qin, Su-Juan; Wen, Qiao-Yan

2014-01-01

A quantum secret-sharing (QSS) protocol consists of two main phases, called sharing and reconstruction. In the first phase, the dealer selects a secret, divides it into several shares, and sends each participant its share securely with a quantum channel. In the second phase, the participants run an interactive protocol in order to reconstruct the secret. If the participants can communicate via a broadcast channel, they can show their shares and learn the secrets simultaneously. So what happens if the channel is not simultaneous? In this paper, we propose a QSS protocol with cheaters by using partially and maximally entangled states. A secure and fair reconstruction mechanism is designed, in a way that each participant can learn or cannot learn the secret simultaneously. (papers)

20 CFR 404.1675 - Finding of substantial failure.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... 20 Employees' Benefits 2 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Finding of substantial failure. 404.1675... DISABILITY INSURANCE (1950- ) Determinations of Disability Substantial Failure § 404.1675 Finding of substantial failure. A finding of substantial failure with respect to a State may not be made unless and until...

Life history trade-offs imposed by dragline use in two money spiders.

Science.gov (United States)

Bonte, Dries; Verduyn, Lieselot; Braeckman, Bart P

2016-01-01

Trade-offs among life history traits are central to understanding the limits of adaptations to stress. In animals, virtually all decisions taken during life are expected to have downstream consequences. To what degree rare, but energy-demanding, decisions carry over to individual performance is rarely studied in arthropods. We used spiders as a model system to test how single investments in silk use - for dispersal or predator escape - affect individual performance. Silk produced for safe lines and as threads for ballooning is of the strongest kind and is energetically costly, especially when resources are limited. We induced dragline spinning in two species of money spider at similar quantities to that under natural conditions and tested trade-offs with lifespan and egg sac production under unlimited prey availability and a dietary restriction treatment. We demonstrate strong trade-offs between dragline spinning and survival and fecundity. Survival trade-offs were additive to those imposed by the dietary treatment, but a reduction in eggs produced after silk use was only prevalent under conditions where food was restricted during the spider's life. Because draglines are not recycled after their use for dispersal or predator escape, their spinning incurs substantial fitness costs in dispersal, especially in environments with prey limitation. Rare but energetically costly decisions related to dispersal or predator escape may thus carry over to adult performance and explain phenotypic heterogeneity in natural populations. © 2016. Published by The Company of Biologists Ltd.

Enhanced resistance in Theobroma cacao against oomycete and fungal pathogens by secretion of phosphatidylinositol-3-phosphate-binding proteins.

Science.gov (United States)

Helliwell, Emily E; Vega-Arreguín, Julio; Shi, Zi; Bailey, Bryan; Xiao, Shunyuan; Maximova, Siela N; Tyler, Brett M; Guiltinan, Mark J

2016-03-01

The internalization of some oomycete and fungal pathogen effectors into host plant cells has been reported to be blocked by proteins that bind to the effectors' cell entry receptor, phosphatidylinositol-3-phosphate (PI3P). This finding suggested a novel strategy for disease control by engineering plants to secrete PI3P-binding proteins. In this study, we tested this strategy using the chocolate tree Theobroma cacao. Transient expression and secretion of four different PI3P-binding proteins in detached leaves of T. cacao greatly reduced infection by two oomycete pathogens, Phytophthora tropicalis and Phytophthora palmivora, which cause black pod disease. Lesion size and pathogen growth were reduced by up to 85%. Resistance was not conferred by proteins lacking a secretory leader, by proteins with mutations in their PI3P-binding site, or by a secreted PI4P-binding protein. Stably transformed, transgenic T. cacao plants expressing two different PI3P-binding proteins showed substantially enhanced resistance to both P. tropicalis and P. palmivora, as well as to the fungal pathogen Colletotrichum theobromicola. These results demonstrate that secretion of PI3P-binding proteins is an effective way to increase disease resistance in T. cacao, and potentially in other plants, against a broad spectrum of pathogens. © 2015 Society for Experimental Biology, Association of Applied Biologists and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Bitcoin trading system

OpenAIRE

Turšič, Samo

2015-01-01

In this thesis an information solution was developed that enables the implementation of different trading strategies and backtesting over cryptocurrency Bitcoin trading data. Supported exchanges are Bitstamp, BTC-e and MtGox. In the field of technical analysis there already exist various solutions for Bitcoin that help traders to trade and advise them on basis of technical indicators and patterns. However, each has its own drawbacks, which we are aiming to fix. A web application was developed...

Bitcoin trading system

OpenAIRE

Turšič, Samo

2014-01-01

In this thesis an information solution was developed that enables the implementation of different trading strategies and backtesting over cryptocurrency Bitcoin trading data. Supported exchanges are Bitstamp, BTC-e and MtGox. In the field of technical analysis there already exist various solutions for Bitcoin that help traders to trade and advise them on basis of technical indicators and patterns. However, each has its own drawbacks, which we are aiming to fix. A web application was developed...

Trade Agreements PTI

Data.gov (United States)

Department of Homeland Security — The objective of the Trade Agreements PTI is to advance CBP’s mission by working with internal and external stakeholders to facilitate legitimate trade and address...

78 FR 30269 - Foreign-Trade Zone 129-Bellingham, Washington; Authorization of Production Activity; T.C. Trading...

Science.gov (United States)

2013-05-22

... proposed production activity to the Foreign-Trade Zones (FTZ) Board on behalf of T.C. Trading Company, Inc... DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE Foreign-Trade Zones Board [B-8-2013] Foreign-Trade Zone 129--Bellingham, Washington; Authorization of Production Activity; T.C. Trading Company, Inc. (Eyeglass Assembly and Kitting...

20 CFR 416.1075 - Finding of substantial failure.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... 20 Employees' Benefits 2 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Finding of substantial failure. 416.1075... AGED, BLIND, AND DISABLED Determinations of Disability Substantial Failure § 416.1075 Finding of substantial failure. A finding of substantial failure with respect to a State may not be made unless and until...

Protectionism, free trade and preferential trade: the Mexican experience 1970-2005

OpenAIRE

Pablo Ruiz Napoles

2007-01-01

This paper is an analysis of trade policies in Mexico. A structural analysis of theMexican economy's performance in three successive but different periods, regardingtrade policies for the last thirty-five years is presented. Results are confronted with expectations from various trade policies. There are two main conclusions: first those extreme free-trade policies have not been good for economic stability, growth and employment creation in Mexico, and second, that specialization in production...

Heterogeneous trade agreements, WTO membership and international trade : an analysis using matching econometrics

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kohl, Tristan; Trojanowska, Sofia

2015-01-01

This article explores the heterogeneous effects of trade agreements (TAs) and World Trade Organization (WTO) membership on the volume of international trade. We extend Baier and Bergstrand’s (2009a) application of matching econometrics by distinguishing between different types of TAs and WTO

Life History Trade-offs

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Smallegange, I.M.; Kliman, R.M.

2016-01-01

Trade-offs play a central role in life history theory. This article explains why they exist, how they arise, how they can be measured, and briefly discusses their evolution. Three important trade-offs are discussed in detail: the trade-off between current reproduction and survival, between current

Why are Trade Agreements Regional?

OpenAIRE

Zissimos, Ben

2007-01-01

This paper shows how distance may be used to coordinate on a unique equilibrium in which trade agreements are regional. Trade agreement formation is modeled as coalition formation. In a standard trade model with no distance between countries, a familiar problem of coordination failure arises giving rise to multiple equilibria; any one of many possible trade agreements can form. With distance between countries, and through strategic interaction in tariff setting, regional trade agreements gene...

Testing the theory of emissions trading. Experimental evidence on alternative mechanisms for global carbon trading

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Klaassen, Ger; Nentjes, Andries; Smith, Mark

2005-01-01

Simulation models and theory prove that emission trading converges to market equilibrium. This paper sets out to test these results using experimental economics. Three experiments are conducted for the six largest carbon emitting industrialized regions. Two experiments use auctions, the first a single bid auction and the second a Walrasian auction. The third relies on bilateral, sequential trading. The paper finds that, in line with the standard theory, both auctions and bilateral, sequential trading capture a significant part (88% to 99%) of the potential cost savings of emission trading. As expected from trade theory, all experiments show that the market price converges (although not fully) to the market equilibrium price. In contrast to the theory, the results also suggest that not every country might gain from trading. In both the bilateral trading experiment and the Walrasian auction, one country actually is worse off with trade. In particular bilateral, sequential trading leads to a distribution of gains significantly different from the competitive market outcome. This is due to speculative behavior, imperfect foresight and market power

Disentangling regional trade agreements, trade flows and tobacco affordability in sub-Saharan Africa.

Science.gov (United States)

Appau, Adriana; Drope, Jeffrey; Labonté, Ronald; Stoklosa, Michal; Lencucha, Raphael

2017-11-14

In principle, trade and investment agreements are meant to boost economic growth. However, the removal of trade barriers and the provision of investment incentives to attract foreign direct investments may facilitate increased trade in and/or more efficient production of commodities considered harmful to health such as tobacco. We analyze existing evidence on trade and investment liberalization and its relationship to tobacco trade in Sub-Saharan African countries. We compare tobacco trading patterns to foreign direct investments made by tobacco companies. We estimate and compare changes in the Konjunkturforschungsstelle (KOF) Economic Globalization measure, relative price measure and cigarette prices. Preferential regional trade agreements appear to have encouraged the consolidation of cigarette production, which has shaped trading patterns of tobacco leaf. Since 2002, British American Tobacco has invested in tobacco manufacturing facilities in Nigeria, Kenya and South Africa strategically located to serve different regions in Africa. Following this, British America Tobacco closed factories in Ghana, Rwanda, Uganda, Mauritius and Angola. At the same time, Malawi and Tanzania exported a large percentage of tobacco leaf to European countries. After 2010, there was an increase in tobacco exports from Malawi and Zambia to China, which may be a result of preferential trade agreements the EU and China have with these countries. Economic liberalization has been accompanied by greater cigarette affordability for the countries included in our analysis. However, only excise taxes and income have an effect on cigarette prices within the region. These results suggest that the changing economic structures of international trade and investment are likely heightening the efficiency and effectiveness of the tobacco industry. As tobacco control advocates consider supply-side tobacco control interventions, they must consider carefully the effects of these economic agreements and

BP's emissions trading system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Victor, David G.; House, Joshua C.

2006-01-01

Between 1998 and 2001, BP reduced its emissions of greenhouse gases by more than 10%. BP's success in cutting emissions is often equated with its use of an apparently market-based emissions trading program. However no independent study has ever examined the rules and operation of BP's system and the incentives acting on managers to reduce emissions. We use interviews with key managers and with traders in several critical business units to explore the bound of BP's success with emissions trading. No money actually changed hands when permits were traded, and the main effect of the program was to create awareness of money-saving emission controls rather than strong price incentives. We show that the trading system did not operate like a 'textbook' cap and trade scheme. Rather, the BP system operated much like a 'safety valve' trading system, where managers let the market function until the cost of doing so surpassed what the company was willing to tolerate

Relative intensity of bilateral trade flows, regional integration, and trade performance: the case of Brazil, 1984-1998

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Silva Valquiria da

2003-01-01

Full Text Available The objective of this research is to identify the component of trade that results specifically from bilateral relations and evaluate how the creation of trading blocs affects trade relations between countries. The trirapport coefficient of the relative intensity of bilateral agricultural sector trade flows between Brazil and other countries from 1984 and 1998 is used in the evaluation. In general, the results show that relative trade intensity between Brazil and its non-MERCOSUL trade partners fell after their entry into regional trade agreements (extra-bloc effect. The intra-bloc effect (trade expansion is reflected by changes in trade intensity between Brazil and the other MERCOSUL members and changes in trade intensity between NAFTA members Mexico, Canada, and the United States.

Emissions Trading Resources

Science.gov (United States)

Learn about emissions trading programs, also known as cap and trade programs, which are market-based policy tools for protecting human health and the environment by controlling emissions from a group of sources.

76 FR 10082 - Office of International Trade; State Trade and Export Promotion (STEP) Grant Program

Science.gov (United States)

2011-02-23

... translation fees, The design of international marketing products or campaigns, An export trade show exhibit... SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION Office of International Trade; State Trade and Export Promotion... Administrator of the Office of International Trade (OIT) that does not duplicate the services of other SBA...

Environmentally damaging electricity trade

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Billette de Villemeur, Etienne [Toulouse School of Economics (IDEI and GREMAQ) (France); Pineau, Pierre-Olivier [HEC Montreal (Canada)

2010-03-15

Electricity trade across regions is often considered welfare enhancing. We show in this paper that this should be reconsidered if environmental externalities are taken into account. We consider two cases where trade is beneficial, before accounting for environmental damages: first, when two regions with the same technology display some demand heterogeneity; second when one region endowed with hydropower arbitrages with its ''thermal'' neighbor. Our results show that under reasonable demand and supply elasticities, trade comes with an additional environmental cost. This calls for integrating environmental externalities into market reforms when redesigning the electricity sector. Two North American applications illustrate our results: trade between Pennsylvania and New York, and trade between hydro-rich Quebec and New York. (author)

Biclustering Learning of Trading Rules.

Science.gov (United States)

Huang, Qinghua; Wang, Ting; Tao, Dacheng; Li, Xuelong

2015-10-01

Technical analysis with numerous indicators and patterns has been regarded as important evidence for making trading decisions in financial markets. However, it is extremely difficult for investors to find useful trading rules based on numerous technical indicators. This paper innovatively proposes the use of biclustering mining to discover effective technical trading patterns that contain a combination of indicators from historical financial data series. This is the first attempt to use biclustering algorithm on trading data. The mined patterns are regarded as trading rules and can be classified as three trading actions (i.e., the buy, the sell, and no-action signals) with respect to the maximum support. A modified K nearest neighborhood ( K -NN) method is applied to classification of trading days in the testing period. The proposed method [called biclustering algorithm and the K nearest neighbor (BIC- K -NN)] was implemented on four historical datasets and the average performance was compared with the conventional buy-and-hold strategy and three previously reported intelligent trading systems. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed trading system outperforms its counterparts and will be useful for investment in various financial markets.

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.

Ionizing radiation in secret services' conspirative actions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vogel, H.; Lotz, P.; Vogel, B.

2007-01-01

Introduction: The death of Litvinenko has been reported by the media. It has raised the question whether this case had been unique. The fall of the wall has allowed a glimpse in the planning and comporting of a secret service. Material and method: Documents of the secret service of the former German democratic republic (GDR), books of defectors, and media reports about secret service actions with radiating substances have been analyzed. Results: Since decades, secret services have been using radioactive nuclides and radiation for their tasks. Several killings with radiation have been reported. A complicated logistic had been developed. Conclusion: Only singular cases of the employment of radiating substances have become known. It is probable that the majority rests unknown. Government support seems necessary in secret services' conspirative actions with radiating substance

Features of carbohydrate metabolism and incretin secretion in patients with Cushing disease and acromegaly

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lubov V. Matchekhina

2017-10-01

Full Text Available Aim. This study aims to analyse the rhythm and levels of incretins and neuropeptides secretion in patients with Cushing disease (CD and acromegaly, and thus specify the pathogenesis of carbohydrate metabolism disturbances. Matherials and methods. In this study, 42 patients (mean age, 37.5 years with CD and acromegaly were enrolled. All patients were newly diagnosed with CD and acromegaly, and none had a history of previous drug therapy, radiotherapy or pituitary surgery. All patients underwent OGTT, during which glucose, glucagon, GLP-1, GLP-2, GIP and ghrelin were evaluated at 0, 30 and 120 min, respectively. Results. During OGTT, glucose levels were not significantly different between the groups. The relevance of pre-diabetes was higher in patients with CD. In these patients, while glucagon levels were substantially higher at all cut-off points than those in controls (р = 0.001, GIP secretion was slightly lower. The acromegaly group was characterised by an inverse rhythm of GIP secretion with no peak level at 30 min. In addition, GLP-1 levels were significantly higher in patients with CD (р = 0.047. Similarly, GLP-2 levels were also significantly higher in patients with CD than in those with acromegaly and controls (p = 0.001. Finally, ghrelin levels were significantly higher in patients with CD (р = 0.013 and acromegaly (р = 0.023. Conclusion. More pleiotropic actions of glucocorticoids can explain the higher relevance of carbohydrate metabolism disturbances in patients with CD. This can also be explained by higher levels of glucagon secretion, which do not depend on the type of carbohydrate metabolism disorder and are stimulated by a direct action of glucocorticoids on the glucagon receptor. GIP and GLP-1 secretion in patients with CD and acromegaly are characterised by the inverse rhythm with no peak levels, implying that these hormones do not play a crucial role in the development of carbohydrate disturbances in these patients. In

PRICE CATEGORIES USED IN FOREIGN TRADE TRANSACTIONS IN THE LIGHT OF THE DELIVERY TERMS INCOTERMS 2010

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Paliu - Popa Lucia

2011-12-01

Full Text Available On the international markets of goods, pricing is usually done by the confrontation between supply and demand, under pressure from global competition; such pricing is influenced by many other factors that reflect the structural crisis phenomena triggered in the world economy, or factors specific to different groups of goods. After negotiation, the contracting parties should obtain the best price, taking into account the circumstantial situation of the world market upon the transaction, the quality and the technical and functional parameters of the goods subject to negotiations, comparable to those of the competition, the delivery terms and the payment method. From this perspective, we believe that the provision of substantiated external prices makes it easier to obtain maximum benefits and achieve the trade with foreign countries under the best terms. Because the external price is an essential element of the agreement of international sale of goods that contributes substantially to the profitability of an entity, we will deal below with the main categories of prices used in foreign trade activities, both in intra-Community and international transactions, taking into account the models for calculating the external price, compared to the delivery terms Incoterms 2010.

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

31 CFR 515.322 - Authorized trade territory; member of the authorized trade territory.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... 31 Money and Finance: Treasury 3 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Authorized trade territory; member of the authorized trade territory. 515.322 Section 515.322 Money and Finance: Treasury Regulations... CUBAN ASSETS CONTROL REGULATIONS General Definitions § 515.322 Authorized trade territory; member of the...

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)...

40 CFR 91.206 - Trading.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 20 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Trading. 91.206 Section 91.206... EMISSIONS FROM MARINE SPARK-IGNITION ENGINES Averaging, Banking, and Trading Provisions § 91.206 Trading. (a... manufacturers in trading. These credits must be used in the same averaging set as generated. (b) Credits for...

40 CFR 91.1306 - Trading.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 20 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Trading. 91.1306 Section 91.1306... EMISSIONS FROM MARINE SPARK-IGNITION ENGINES In-Use Credit Program for New Marine Engines § 91.1306 Trading... engine manufacturers through trading. (b) In-use credits for trading can be obtained from credits banked...

Regulation of glucagon secretion by incretins

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Holst, Jens Juul; Christensen, M; Lund, A

2011-01-01

Glucagon secretion plays an essential role in the regulation of hepatic glucose production, and elevated fasting and postprandial plasma glucagon concentrations in patients with type 2 diabetes (T2DM) contribute to their hyperglycaemia. The reason for the hyperglucagonaemia is unclear, but recent...... studies have shown lack of suppression after oral but preserved suppression after isoglycaemic intravenous glucose, pointing to factors from the gut. Gastrointestinal hormones that are secreted in response to oral glucose include glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) that strongly inhibits glucagon secretion......, and GLP-2 and GIP, both of which stimulate secretion. When the three hormones are given together on top of isoglycaemic intravenous glucose, glucagon suppression is delayed in a manner similar to that observed after oral glucose. Studies with the GLP-1 receptor antagonist, exendin 9-39, suggest...

Trade in goods

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sørensen, Karsten Engsig

2006-01-01

An analysis of the rules governing trade in goods under the GATT agreement and the Agreement on Safeguards......An analysis of the rules governing trade in goods under the GATT agreement and the Agreement on Safeguards...

Assessing environmental impacts embodied in manufacturing and labor input for the China-U.S. trade.

Science.gov (United States)

Xu, Ming; Williams, Eric; Allenby, Braden

2010-01-15

Previous studies on environmental impacts embodied in trade have paid little attention to the impacts of labor input, or environmental overhead of labor input (EOLI). EOLI occurs to support lifestyles both in the purchase of goods and services and in the consumption of fuels and electricity by workers. This research investigates both supply chain manufacturing and EOLI energy use and carbon dioxide (CO(2)) emissions embodied in the 2002 China-U.S. trade. EOLI is substantial in scale: 24% of manufacturing energy in the U.S. and 6% for China. The higher share of EOLI in the U.S. is the result of higher energy use to support worker lifestyles. Analysis shows China's EOLI is dominated by the manufacturing of products consumed by workers, while EOLI on the U.S. side is primarily from workers' direct consumption. The total manufacturing and EOLI energy and CO(2) embodied in the eastbound trade from China to the U.S. are 6.5 exajoules (EJ) of energy (6% EOLI) and 440 million tons (Mt) of CO(2) (8% EOLI). The total manufacturing and EOLI energy and CO(2) embodied in the westbound trade from the U.S. to China are 424 petajoules (PJ) of energy (19% EOLI) and 25.3 Mt of CO(2) (21% EOLI).

Role of adipose secreted factors and kisspeptin in the metabolic control of gonadotropin secretion and puberty

Science.gov (United States)

Factors secreted by adipose tissue continue to be discovered. Evidence indicates a strong link between neural influences and adipocyte expression and secretion of a wide array of cytokines, neurotrophic factors, growth factors, binding proteins, and neuropeptides. These “adipokines” are linked to im...

Burkholderia cenocepacia type VI secretion system mediates escape of type II secreted proteins into the cytoplasm of infected macrophages.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Roberto Rosales-Reyes

Full Text Available Burkholderia cenocepacia is an opportunistic pathogen that survives intracellularly in macrophages and causes serious respiratory infections in patients with cystic fibrosis. We have previously shown that bacterial survival occurs in bacteria-containing membrane vacuoles (BcCVs resembling arrested autophagosomes. Intracellular bacteria stimulate IL-1β secretion in a caspase-1-dependent manner and induce dramatic changes to the actin cytoskeleton and the assembly of the NADPH oxidase complex onto the BcCV membrane. A Type 6 secretion system (T6SS is required for these phenotypes but surprisingly it is not required for the maturation arrest of the BcCV. Here, we show that macrophages infected with B. cenocepacia employ the NLRP3 inflammasome to induce IL-1β secretion and pyroptosis. Moreover, IL-1β secretion by B. cenocepacia-infected macrophages is suppressed in deletion mutants unable to produce functional Type VI, Type IV, and Type 2 secretion systems (SS. We provide evidence that the T6SS mediates the disruption of the BcCV membrane, which allows the escape of proteins secreted by the T2SS into the macrophage cytoplasm. This was demonstrated by the activity of fusion derivatives of the T2SS-secreted metalloproteases ZmpA and ZmpB with adenylcyclase. Supporting this notion, ZmpA and ZmpB are required for efficient IL-1β secretion in a T6SS dependent manner. ZmpA and ZmpB are also required for the maturation arrest of the BcCVs and bacterial intra-macrophage survival in a T6SS-independent fashion. Our results uncover a novel mechanism for inflammasome activation that involves cooperation between two bacterial secretory pathways, and an unanticipated role for T2SS-secreted proteins in intracellular bacterial survival.

Visualization of glucagon secretion from pancreatic α cells by bioluminescence video microscopy: Identification of secretion sites in the intercellular contact regions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yokawa, Satoru; Suzuki, Takahiro; Inouye, Satoshi; Inoh, Yoshikazu; Suzuki, Ryo; Kanamori, Takao; Furuno, Tadahide; Hirashima, Naohide

2017-01-01

We have firstly visualized glucagon secretion using a method of video-rate bioluminescence imaging. The fusion protein of proglucagon and Gaussia luciferase (PGCG-GLase) was used as a reporter to detect glucagon secretion and was efficiently expressed in mouse pancreatic α cells (αTC1.6) using a preferred human codon-optimized gene. In the culture medium of the cells expressing PGCG-GLase, luminescence activity determined with a luminometer was increased with low glucose stimulation and KCl-induced depolarization, as observed for glucagon secretion. From immunochemical analyses, PGCG-GLase stably expressed in clonal αTC1.6 cells was correctly processed and released by secretory granules. Luminescence signals of the secreted PGCG-GLase from the stable cells were visualized by video-rate bioluminescence microscopy. The video images showed an increase in glucagon secretion from clustered cells in response to stimulation by KCl. The secretory events were observed frequently at the intercellular contact regions. Thus, the localization and frequency of glucagon secretion might be regulated by cell-cell adhesion. - Highlights: • The fused protein of proglucagon to Gaussia luciferase was used as a reporter. • The fusion protein was highly expressed using a preferred human-codon optimized gene. • Glucagon secretion stimulated by depolarization was determined by luminescence. • Glucagon secretion in α cells was visualized by bioluminescence imaging. • Glucagon secretion sites were localized in the intercellular contact regions.

Crossing the roof of the world: Trade in medicinal plants from Nepal to China.

Science.gov (United States)

He, Jun; Yang, Bin; Dong, Min; Wang, Yunshang

2018-04-26

Trade in medicinal and aromatic plants (MAPs) between Nepal and China has taken place for centuries along the Tibetan border. While there is anecdotal evidence that economic development in China over the past decades, coupled with regional infrastructure development and increasing market integration, has substantially changed this trade, there are no current published studies investigating this, e.g. in terms of species and market structure. This knowledge gap impedes the development of public interventions, e.g. in support of sustainable trade. The primary objective of this study is to provide the first informative insights into the Nepal-China trade in MAPs, with particular emphasis on the value chain in Tibet. Data was collected from December 2015 to August 2016 in Nepal and Tibet. The data collection included standardized questionnaires to understand and map the value chain of MAPs, including the actors involved and key governance issues. Data was collected from Katmandu-based MAPs wholesalers exporting from Nepal to China, (n = 6) and with regional wholesalers (n = 40) based in Tibet. The questionnaires contained quantitative and qualitative components focusing on key elements of the MAPs value chain, e.g. the traded species and their values. This was augmented with qualitative interviews with Lhasa-based processors (n = 4) and government officials (n = 12) working in border controls, customs, and/or drug administration. We also collected official statistics on the Nepal-China MAPs trade and conducted a workshop in Lhasa with traders and government officials to discuss the nature of the Nepal-China MAPs trade. The Nepal-China MAPs trade boomed after 2011 when the value of traded plants increased more than nine-fold. This rapid increase reflected both a broader species composition and higher unit prices in response to increasing demand from China. The trade expansion was also driven by increasing demand in China and facilitated by improved

The "institutional factor" in the theory of international trade: new vs. old trade theories

OpenAIRE

Parrinello, Sergio

2000-01-01

Abstract The New Trade Theory presents novel perspectives compared to the Old Theories of international trade. Increasing returns and different institutional arrangements can explain the international specialization and trade flows even between countries which are identical in terms of factor endowments, technology and preferences for private goods. In this context the pattern of trade cannot be determined by a price/cost comparison of isolated countries. Comparative advantages can be affe...

Air Force UAVs: The Secret History

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

iA Mitchell Institute Study i Air Force UAVs The Secret History A Mitchell Institute Study July 2010 By Thomas P. Ehrhard Report Documentation Page...DATES COVERED 00-00-2010 to 00-00-2010 4. TITLE AND SUBTITLE Air Force UAVs The Secret History 5a. CONTRACT NUMBER 5b. GRANT NUMBER 5c...opening phases of Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan. By Thomas P. Ehrhard a miTchEll insTiTuTE sTudy July 2010 Air Force UAVs The Secret History

THE LEGAL CAPACITY TO TRADE

OpenAIRE

ADELIN UNGUREANU

2014-01-01

Trading is a part of our society. The man has been trading from ancient times so the amount of trades and transactions around the world is huge. In order for us to initiate, organize and deploy such trades we have to have certain rules which can help regulate the social and professional or legal aspect of trades. Therefore the sole trader capacity must be obtained and used in order for the contracts to be valid. The right and obligations that come with this capacity constitute activities t...

17 CFR 33.6 - Suspension or revocation of designation as a contract market for the trading of commodity options.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... or the underlying futures or cash markets, or is otherwise contrary to the public interest: Provided... trading presents a substantial risk to the public interest. (Approved by the Office of Management and Budget under control number 3038-0007) [46 FR 54529, Nov. 3, 1981, as amended at 46 FR 63036, Dec. 30...

Emission trading: A discussion paper

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1992-05-01

Emission trading is a market-based incentive program designed to control air emissions in which a cap is placed on the total quantity of pollutants allowed to be emitted in an airshed. Appropriate shares of this amount are allocated among participating emission sources, and participants can buy or sell their shares. Advantages of emission trading include its potential to achieve air emission targets at a lower cost than the traditional command and control approach, and its ability to accommodate economic growth without compromising environmental quality. A study was conducted to evaluate the potential use of emission trading programs to achieve emission reduction goals set for nitrogen oxides, volatile organic compounds (VOC), and sulfur oxides. Emission trading programs in the USA are reviewed and a set of factors important for the success of emission trading are identified. Key policy and design issues related to an emission trading program are identified, explained, and discussed. Administrative issues are then analyzed, such as legislative authority, monitoring and enforcement requirements, and trading between jurisdictions. A preliminary assessment of emission trading for control of NOx and VOC in the Lower Fraser Valley indicates that emission trading would be feasible, but legislative authority to implement such a program would have to be introduced

THE BUFFER CAPACITY OF AIRWAY EPITHELIAL SECRETIONS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dusik eKim

2014-06-01

Full Text Available The pH of airway epithelial secretions influences bacterial killing and mucus properties and is reduced by acidic pollutants, gastric reflux, and respiratory diseases such as cystic fibrosis (CF. The effect of acute acid loads depends on buffer capacity, however the buffering of airway secretions has not been well characterized. In this work we develop a method for titrating micro-scale (30 µl volumes and use it to study fluid secreted by the human airway epithelial cell line Calu-3, a widely used model for submucosal gland serous cells. Microtitration curves revealed that HCO3- is the major buffer. Peak buffer capacity (β increased from 17 to 28 mM/pH during forskolin stimulation, and was reduced by >50% in fluid secreted by cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR-deficient Calu-3 monolayers, confirming an important role of CFTR in HCO3- secretion. Back-titration with NaOH revealed non-volatile buffer capacity due to proteins synthesized and released by the epithelial cells. Lysozyme and mucin concentrations were too low to buffer Calu-3 fluid significantly, however model titrations of porcine gastric mucins at concentrations near the sol-gel transition suggest that mucins may contribute to the buffer capacity of ASL in vivo. We conclude that CFTR-dependent HCO3- secretion and epithelially-derived proteins are the predominant buffers in Calu-3 secretions.

The ESX system in Bacillus subtilis mediates protein secretion.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Laura A Huppert

Full Text Available Esat-6 protein secretion systems (ESX or Ess are required for the virulence of several human pathogens, most notably Mycobacterium tuberculosis and Staphylococcus aureus. These secretion systems are defined by a conserved FtsK/SpoIIIE family ATPase and one or more WXG100 family secreted substrates. Gene clusters coding for ESX systems have been identified amongst many organisms including the highly tractable model system, Bacillus subtilis. In this study, we demonstrate that the B. subtilis yuk/yue locus codes for a nonessential ESX secretion system. We develop a functional secretion assay to demonstrate that each of the locus gene products is specifically required for secretion of the WXG100 virulence factor homolog, YukE. We then employ an unbiased approach to search for additional secreted substrates. By quantitative profiling of culture supernatants, we find that YukE may be the sole substrate that depends on the FtsK/SpoIIIE family ATPase for secretion. We discuss potential functional implications for secretion of a unique substrate.

Expatriates and trade

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Konečný, Tomáš

2012-01-01

Roč. 13, č. 1 (2012), s. 83-98 ISSN 1488-3473 R&D Projects: GA MŠk LC542 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z70850503 Keywords : migration * trade * informal trade barriers Subject RIV: AH - Economics

Trade Finance and Trade Collapse during the Global Financial Crisis: Evidence from the Republic of Korea

OpenAIRE

E. Young Song

2014-01-01

This study examines the role of trade finance in the trade collapse of 2008-09 from the perspective of the Korean economy. We use two approaches. Firstly, as background to a more formal analysis, we make a casual observation on the behavior of aggregate data on trade finance, on which Korea has relatively abundant data. Aggregate data do not convincingly support the view that trade finance played an active role in causing the trade collapse. The measures of trade finance and the value of trad...

International Trade of Biofuels (Brochure)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

2013-05-01

In recent years, the production and trade of biofuels has increased to meet global demand for renewable fuels. Ethanol and biodiesel contribute much of this trade because they are the most established biofuels. Their growth has been aided through a variety of policies, especially in the European Union, Brazil, and the United States, but ethanol trade and production have faced more targeted policies and tariffs than biodiesel. This fact sheet contains a summary of the trade of biofuels among nations, including historical data on production, consumption, and trade.

Extrafloral nectar secretion from wounds of Solanum dulcamara.

Science.gov (United States)

Lortzing, Tobias; Calf, Onno W; Böhlke, Marlene; Schwachtje, Jens; Kopka, Joachim; Geuß, Daniel; Kosanke, Susanne; van Dam, Nicole M; Steppuhn, Anke

2016-04-25

Plants usually close wounds rapidly to prevent infections and the loss of valuable resources such as assimilates(1). However, herbivore-inflicted wounds on the bittersweet nightshade Solanum dulcamara appear not to close completely and produce sugary wound secretions visible as droplets. Many plants across the plant kingdom secrete sugary nectar from extrafloral nectaries(2) to attract natural enemies of herbivores for indirect defence(3,4). As ants forage on wound edges of S. dulcamara in the field, we hypothesized that wound secretions are a form of extrafloral nectar (EFN). We show that, unlike EFN from known nectaries, wound secretions are neither associated with any specific structure nor restricted to certain locations. However, similar to EFN, they are jasmonate-inducible and the plant controls their chemical composition. Wound secretions are attractive for ants, and application of wound secretion mimics increases ant attraction and reduces herbivory on S. dulcamara plants in a natural population. In greenhouse experiments, we reveal that ants can defend S. dulcamara from two of its native herbivores, slugs and flea beetle larvae. Since nectar is defined by its ecological function as a sugary secretion involved in interactions with animals(5), such 'plant bleeding' could be a primitive mode of nectar secretion exemplifying an evolutionary origin of structured extrafloral nectaries.

Incretin hormone secretion over the day

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ahren, B; Carr, RD; Deacon, Carolyn F.

2010-01-01

The two incretin hormones glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide (GIP) and glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) are key factors in the regulation of islet function and glucose metabolism, and incretin-based therapy for type 2 diabetes has gained considerable interest during recent years. Regulat......The two incretin hormones glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide (GIP) and glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) are key factors in the regulation of islet function and glucose metabolism, and incretin-based therapy for type 2 diabetes has gained considerable interest during recent years....... Regulation of incretin hormone secretion is less well characterized. The main stimulus for incretin hormone secretion is presence of nutrients in the intestinal lumen, and carbohydrate, fat as well as protein all have the capacity to stimulate GIP and GLP-1 secretion. More recently, it has been established...... that a diurnal regulation exists with incretin hormone secretion to an identical meal being greater when the meal is served in the morning compared to in the afternoon. Finally, whether incretin hormone secretion is altered in disease states is an area with, so far, controversial results in different studies...

Sustainable Trade Credit and Replenishment Policies under the Cap-And-Trade and Carbon Tax Regulations

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Juanjuan Qin

2015-12-01

Full Text Available The paper considers the sustainable trade credit and inventory policies with demand related to credit period and the environmental sensitivity of consumers under the carbon cap-and-trade and carbon tax regulations. First, the decision models are constructed under three cases: without regulation, carbon cap-and-trade regulation, and carbon tax regulation. The optimal solutions of the retailer in the three cases are then discussed under the exogenous and endogenous credit periods. Finally, numerical analysis is conducted to obtain conclusions. The retailer shortens the trade credit period as the environmental sensitivity of the consumer is enhanced. The cap has no effects on the credit period decisions under the carbon cap-and-trade regulation. Carbon trade price and carbon tax have negative effects on the credit period. The retailer under carbon cap-and-trade regulation is more motivated to obey regulations than that under carbon tax regulation when carbon trade price equals carbon tax. Carbon regulations have better effects on carbon emission reduction than with exogenous credit term when the retailer has the power to decide with regards credit policies.

The role of global trade and transport network topology in the human-mediated dispersal of alien species.

Science.gov (United States)

Banks, Natalie Clare; Paini, Dean Ronald; Bayliss, Kirsty Louise; Hodda, Michael

2015-02-01

More people and goods are moving further and more frequently via many different trade and transport networks under current trends of globalisation. These networks can play a major role in the unintended introduction of exotic species to new locations. With the continuing rise in global trade, more research attention is being focused on the role of networks in the spread of invasive species. This represents an emerging field of research in invasion science and the substantial knowledge being generated within other disciplines can provide ecologists with new tools with which to study invasions. For the first time, we synthesise studies from several perspectives, approaches and disciplines to derive the fundamental characteristics of network topology determining the likelihood of spread of organisms via trade and transport networks. These characteristics can be used to identify critical points of vulnerability within these networks and enable the development of more effective strategies to prevent invasions. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd/CNRS.

Exosome secretion affects social motility in Trypanosoma brucei.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dror Eliaz

2017-03-01

Full Text Available Extracellular vesicles (EV secreted by pathogens function in a variety of biological processes. Here, we demonstrate that in the protozoan parasite Trypanosoma brucei, exosome secretion is induced by stress that affects trans-splicing. Following perturbations in biogenesis of spliced leader RNA, which donates its spliced leader (SL exon to all mRNAs, or after heat-shock, the SL RNA is exported to the cytoplasm and forms distinct granules, which are then secreted by exosomes. The exosomes are formed in multivesicular bodies (MVB utilizing the endosomal sorting complexes required for transport (ESCRT, through a mechanism similar to microRNA secretion in mammalian cells. Silencing of the ESCRT factor, Vps36, compromised exosome secretion but not the secretion of vesicles derived from nanotubes. The exosomes enter recipient trypanosome cells. Time-lapse microscopy demonstrated that cells secreting exosomes or purified intact exosomes affect social motility (SoMo. This study demonstrates that exosomes are delivered to trypanosome cells and can change their migration. Exosomes are used to transmit stress signals for communication between parasites.

Reappraisal of bicarbonate secretion by the human oesophagus

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Mertz-Nielsen, A; Hillingsø, J; Bukhave, Klaus

1997-01-01

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Administration of omeprazole to healthy volunteers was recently reported to increase proximal duodenal mucosalbicarbonate secretion. As human oesophagus also secretes bicarbonate, the hypothesis was tested that omeprazole may stimulate oesophagealbicarbonate secretion and thus......: The median rates (95% confidence intervals)of intrinsic oesophageal bicarbonate secretion, corrected for contaminating salivary and gastric bicarbonate, were 89 (33-150) and 121 (63-203)mumol/h/10 cm (p > 0.5) in omeprazole and ranitidine treated subjects respectively. Salivary and gastric bicarbonate...... be overestimated. As omeprazole and ranitidine did not affect bicarbonate secretion differently there was no evidence that omeprazole acts on icarbonate secretory cells in the oesophageal mucosa....

Indomethacin decreases gastroduodenal mucosal bicarbonate secretion in humans

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Mertz-Nielsen, A; Hillingsø, Jens; Bukhave, K

1995-01-01

BACKGROUND: Cyclooxygenase inhibitors reduce mucosal bicarbonate secretion in the duodenum, but the evidence for their effect on bicarbonate secretion in the stomach remains controversial. We have, therefore, studied how indomethacin influences gastroduodenal bicarbonate secretion and luminal...... healthy volunteers. Bicarbonate and PGE2 were measured in the gastroduodenal effluents by back-titration and radioimmunoassay, respectively. RESULTS: Vagal stimulation and duodenal luminal acidification (0.1 M HCl; 20 ml; 5 min) increased gastroduodenal bicarbonate secretion (p ... markedly inhibited both basal and stimulated gastric and duodenal mucosal bicarbonate secretion, and this reduction was similar to the degree of cyclooxygenase inhibition estimated by the luminal release of PGE2 (p

Trade and Development

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Abbott, Philip; Bentzen, Jeanet; Tarp, Finn

2009-01-01

History, not predictions of CGE models or cross-country growth studies, shows a strong relationship between trade and development. Vietnam's experience with bilateral trade agreements, comparing actual outcomes with predictions from existing models, demonstrates this and the limitations of research...

78 FR 7395 - Foreign-Trade Zone 129-Bellingham, WA; Notification of Proposed Production Activity; T.C. Trading...

Science.gov (United States)

2013-02-01

... DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE Foreign-Trade Zones Board [B-8-2013] Foreign-Trade Zone 129--Bellingham, WA; Notification of Proposed Production Activity; T.C. Trading Company, Inc. (Eyeglass Assembly and Kitting... activity on behalf of T.C. Trading Company, Inc. (T.C. Trading), located in Blaine, Washington. The...

[Secret drug tribulations and French legislation].

Science.gov (United States)

Charlot, Colette

2002-01-01

From an official Montpellier prefecture paper of 18th century, we are interested in a secret drug from Provence origin: the Irroë powder. This purgative will pass from "secret" drug status to "patent" drug. It's notoriety will come from its arrival to Paris. The law of 21th germinal year XI, the decret of 25 prairial year XIII and this of 18th 1810 imposed to give the drug composition to an official status; that examined and permit it's sale. This secret will be produce for half century.

Trade, Technology Diffusion and Misallocation : Trade Partner Matters (Replaces CentER DP 2011-125)

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Curuk, M.

2012-01-01

Abstract: This paper suggests that contingent on the productivity level of the trade partner; international trade may create resource misallocation in less productive countries. It theoretically shows how the interaction between technology diffusion induced by trade and cross sectoral heterogeneity

48 CFR 225.403 - World Trade Organization Government Procurement Agreement and Free Trade Agreements.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... Government Procurement Agreement and Free Trade Agreements. 225.403 Section 225.403 Federal Acquisition... FOREIGN ACQUISITION Trade Agreements 225.403 World Trade Organization Government Procurement Agreement and... Government Procurement Agreement, acquire only U.S.-made, qualifying country, or designated country end...

European wood-fuel trade

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hillring, B.; Vinterbaeck, J.

2001-01-01

This paper discusses research carried out during the l990s on European wood fuel trade at the Department of Forest Management and Products, SLU, in Sweden. Utilisation of wood-fuels and other biofuels increased very rapidly in some regions during that period. Biofuels are replacing fossil fuels which is an effective way to reduce the future influence of green house gases on the climate. The results indicate a rapid increase in wood-fuel trade in Europe from low levels and with a limited number of countries involved. The chief products traded are wood pellets, wood chips and recycled wood. The main trading countries are, for export, Germany and the Baltic states and, for import, Sweden, Denmark and to some extent the Netherlands. In the future, the increased use of biofuel in European countries is expected to intensify activity in this trade. (orig.)

SECURE VISUAL SECRET SHARING BASED ON DISCRETE WAVELET TRANSFORM

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

S. Jyothi Lekshmi

2015-08-01

Full Text Available Visual Cryptography Scheme (VCS is an encryption method to encode secret written materials. This method converts the secret written material into an image. Then encode this secret image into n shadow images called shares. For the recreation of the original secret, all or some selected subsets of shares are needed; individual shares are of no use on their own. The secret image can be recovered simply by selecting some subset of these n shares, makes transparencies of them and stacking on top of each other. Nowadays, the data security has an important role. The shares can be altered by an attacker. So providing security to the shares is important. This paper proposes a method of adding security to cryptographic shares. This method uses two dimensional discrete wavelet transform to hide visual secret shares. Then the hidden secrets are distributed among participants through the internet. All hidden shares are extracted to reconstruct the secret.

On Secret Sharing with Nonlinear Product Reconstruction

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Cascudo Pueyo, Ignacio; Cramer, Ronald; Mirandola, Diego

2015-01-01

Multiplicative linear secret sharing is a fundamental notion in the area of secure multiparty computation and, since recently, in the area of two-party cryptography as well. In a nutshell, this notion guarantees that the product of two secrets is obtained as a linear function of the vector......-necessarily-linear “product reconstruction function.” Is the resulting notion equivalent to multiplicative linear secret sharing? We show the (perhaps somewhat counterintuitive) result that this relaxed notion is strictly more general. Concretely, fix a finite field ${\\mathbb F}_q$ as the base field over which linear secret...... sharing is considered. Then we show there exists an (exotic) linear secret sharing scheme with an unbounded number of players $n$ such that it has $t$-privacy with $t = \\Omega(n)$ and such that it does admit a product reconstruction function, yet this function is necessarily nonlinear. In addition, we...

Reelin secreted by GABAergic neurons regulates glutamate receptor homeostasis.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cecilia Gonzalez Campo

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Reelin is a large secreted protein of the extracellular matrix that has been proposed to participate to the etiology of schizophrenia. During development, reelin is crucial for the correct cytoarchitecture of laminated brain structures and is produced by a subset of neurons named Cajal-Retzius. After birth, most of these cells degenerate and reelin expression persists in postnatal and adult brain. The phenotype of neurons that bind secreted reelin and whether the continuous secretion of reelin is required for physiological functions at postnatal stages remain unknown. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Combining immunocytochemical and pharmacological approaches, we first report that two distinct patterns of reelin expression are present in cultured hippocampal neurons. We show that in hippocampal cultures, reelin is secreted by GABAergic neurons displaying an intense reelin immunoreactivity (IR. We demonstrate that secreted reelin binds to receptors of the lipoprotein family on neurons with a punctate reelin IR. Secondly, using calcium imaging techniques, we examined the physiological consequences of reelin secretion blockade. Blocking protein secretion rapidly and reversibly changes the subunit composition of N-methyl-D-aspartate glutamate receptors (NMDARs to a predominance of NR2B-containing NMDARs. Addition of recombinant or endogenously secreted reelin rescues the effects of protein secretion blockade and reverts the fraction of NR2B-containing NMDARs to control levels. Therefore, the continuous secretion of reelin is necessary to control the subunit composition of NMDARs in hippocampal neurons. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Our data show that the heterogeneity of reelin immunoreactivity correlates with distinct functional populations: neurons synthesizing and secreting reelin and/or neurons binding reelin. Furthermore, we show that continuous reelin secretion is a strict requirement to maintain the composition of NMDARs. We propose

Melatonin Secretion Pattern in Critically Ill Patients

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Boyko, Yuliya; Holst, René; Jennum, Poul

2017-01-01

effect of remifentanil on melatonin secretion. We found that the risk of atypical sleep compared to normal sleep was significantly lower (p REM) sleep was only observed during the nonsedation period. We found preserved diurnal pattern of melatonin...... secretion in these patients. Remifentanil did not affect melatonin secretion but was associated with lower risk of atypical sleep pattern. REM sleep was only registered during the period of nonsedation.......Critically ill patients have abnormal circadian and sleep homeostasis. This may be associated with higher morbidity and mortality. The aims of this pilot study were (1) to describe melatonin secretion in conscious critically ill mechanically ventilated patients and (2) to describe whether melatonin...

Thymidine secretion by hybridoma and myeloma cells

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Spilsberg, Bjorn; Rise, Frode; Petersen, Dirk; Nissen-Meyer, Jon

2006-01-01

Secretion of thymidine appeared to be a common property of hybridoma and myeloma cells, but not of other cell types, which were tested. Of three hybridoma cell lines tested, all secreted thymidine in amounts resulting in the accumulation of thymidine to concentrations of 10-20 μM in the culture medium. Also three of five myeloma cell lines that were analyzed secrete thymidine, but none of the other cell types that were studied. Thymidine was purified to homogeneity (4 mg purified from 3 l of culture medium) and identified as such by nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. The cells that secreted thymidine showed high resistance to the growth inhibitory effect of thymidine

Mashreq Arab interconnected power system potential for economic energy trading

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Al-Shehri, A.M.; El-Amin, I.M.; Opoku, G.; Al-Baiyat, S.A.; Zedan, F.M.

1994-01-01

The Mashreq Arab countries covered in this study are Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. A feasibility study for the interconnection of the electrical networks of the Mashreq Arab countries, sponsored by the Arab Fund, was completed in June 1992. Each country is served by one utility except Saudi Arabia, which is served by four major utilities and some smaller utilities serving remote towns and small load centers. The major utilities are the Saudi consolidated electric Company in the Eastern Province (SCECO East), SCECO Center, SCECO West, and SCECO South. These are the ones considered in this study. The Mashreq Arab region has a considerable mix of energy resources. Egypt and Syria have some limited amounts of hydropower resources, and the Arabian Gulf region is abundant in fossil fuel reserves. Owing to the differences in energy production costs, a potential exists for substantial energy trading between electric utilities in the region. The major objective of this project is to study the feasibility of electric energy trading between the Mashreq Arab countries. The basis, assumptions, and methodologies on which this energy trading study is based relate to the results and conclusions arising out of the previous study, power plant characteristics and costs, assumptions on economic parameters, rules for economy energy exchange, etc. This paper presents the basis, methodology, and major findings of the study

Pollution added credit trading (PACT). New dimensions in emissions trading

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schaltegger, Stefan; Thomas, Tom

1996-01-01

To date, sources of hazardous, toxic, or otherwise harmful emissions have been regulated on a pollutant by pollutant basis. Environmental policies, even the more advanced 'incentive-based' programs, have focused on individual substances rather than on the overall environmental problem to which the substances contribute. This has produced results that are less economically efficient and ecologically effective than is desirable. A more comprehensive approach combines the principles of emission reduction credit trading with advances made recently in the field of environmental impact assessment, to yield an advanced form of inter-pollutant trading, which we refer to as pollution added credit trading (PACT). PACT incorporates a method for estimating the total environmental harm generated (pollution added) by a facility emitting a variety of pollutants. Weightings that reflect relative harm are used to calculate total pollution added. Each facility covered by PACT would receive annual allowances for total pollution added that they could discharge to the environment. As with existing emissions trading programs, surplus allowances could be sold and shortfalls would be covered by purchasing other facilities' surplus allowances. PACT is more efficient than single-pollutant emissions trading in that it captures differences in marginal reduction costs that exist between pollutants as well as between facilities. It is more ecologically effective because it focuses on the overall environmental problem, rather than on the individual pollutants that contribute to the problem

Non-conventional provisions in regional trade agreements : do they enhance international trade?

OpenAIRE

Hayakawa, Kazunobu; Kimura, Fukunari; Nabeshima, Kaoru

2011-01-01

The scope of recent regional trade agreements (RTAs) is becoming much wider in terms of including several provisions such as competition policy or intellectual property. This paper empirically examines how far advanced, non-conventional provisions in RTAs increase trade values among RTA member countries, by estimating the gravity equation with more disaggregated indicators for RTAs. As a result, we find that the provision on competition policy has the largest impacts on trade values, followin...

16 CFR 260.5 - Interpretation and substantiation of environmental marketing claims.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... deceptive or unsubstantiated environmental advertising claims. A current list of environmental marketing... environmental marketing claims. 260.5 Section 260.5 Commercial Practices FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION GUIDES AND TRADE PRACTICE RULES GUIDES FOR THE USE OF ENVIRONMENTAL MARKETING CLAIMS § 260.5 Interpretation and...

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.

77 FR 20054 - Bureau of International Labor Affairs; Labor Advisory Committee for Trade Negotiations and Trade...

Science.gov (United States)

2012-04-03

... DEPARTMENT OF LABOR Office of the Secretary Bureau of International Labor Affairs; Labor Advisory Committee for Trade Negotiations and Trade Policy ACTION: Meeting Notice. SUMMARY: Pursuant to the... meeting of the Labor Advisory Committee for Trade Negotiation and Trade Policy. Date, Time, Place: May 14...

76 FR 31641 - Bureau of International Labor Affairs; Labor Advisory Committee for Trade Negotiations and Trade...

Science.gov (United States)

2011-06-01

... DEPARTMENT OF LABOR Office of the Secretary Bureau of International Labor Affairs; Labor Advisory Committee for Trade Negotiations and Trade Policy ACTION: Meeting notice. SUMMARY: Pursuant to the... meeting of the Labor Advisory Committee for Trade Negotiation and Trade Policy. Date, Time, Place: June 28...

75 FR 78758 - Bureau of International Labor Affairs; Labor Advisory Committee for Trade Negotiations and Trade...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-12-16

... DEPARTMENT OF LABOR Office of the Secretary Bureau of International Labor Affairs; Labor Advisory Committee for Trade Negotiations and Trade Policy ACTION: Meeting notice. SUMMARY: Pursuant to the... meeting of the Labor Advisory Committee for Trade Negotiation and Trade Policy. Date, Time, Place: January...

Intermittent subglottic secretion drainage may cause tracheal damage in patients with few oropharyngeal secretions.

Science.gov (United States)

Suys, E; Nieboer, K; Stiers, W; De Regt, J; Huyghens, L; Spapen, H

2013-12-01

Injurious prolapse of tracheal mucosa into the suction port has been reported in up to 50% of intubated patients receiving continuous aspiration of subglottic secretions. We investigated whether similar injury could be inflicted by automated intermittent aspiration. Six consecutive patients, intubated with the Mallinckrodt TaperGuard Evac™ endotracheal tube, were studied. A flow sensor was placed between the vacuum regulating system and the mucus collector. Intermittent suctioning was performed at a pressure of -125 mmHg with a 25s interval and duration of 15s. After 24h, a CT scan of the tracheal region was performed. Excessive negative suction pressure, a fast drop in aspiration flow to zero, and important "swinging" movements of secretions in the evacuation line were observed in all patients. Oral instillation of antiseptic mouthwash restored normal aspiration flow and secretion mobility. CT imaging showed marked entrapment of tracheal mucosa into the suction port in all patients. In patients with few oropharyngeal secretions, automated intermittent subglottic aspiration may result in significant and potential harmful invagination of tracheal mucosa into the suction lumen. A critical amount of fluid must be present in the oropharynx to assure adequate and safe aspiration. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Ecosystem service trade-offs, perceived drivers, and sustainability in contrasting agroecosystems in central Mexico

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Carlos E. González-Esquivel

2015-03-01

Full Text Available The ability of agroecosystems to provide food ultimately depends on the regulating and supporting ecosystem services that underpin their functioning, such as the regulation of soil quality, water quality, soil erosion, pests, and pollinators. However, there are trade-offs between provisioning and regulating or supporting services, whose nature at the farm and plot scales is poorly understood. We analyzed data at the farm level for two agroecosystems with contrasting objectives in central Mexico: one aimed at staple crop production for self-subsistence and local markets, the other directed to a cash crop for export markets. Bivariate and multivariate trade-offs were analyzed for different crop management strategies (conventional, organic, traditional, crop rotation and their underpinning socioeconomic drivers. There was a clear trade-off between crop yield and soil quality in self-subsistence systems. However, other expected trade-offs between yields and soil quality did not always occur, likely because of the overall good soils of the region and the low to medium input profile of most farms. Trade-offs were highly dependent on farm-specific agricultural practices; organic, traditional, and rotation management systems generally showed smaller trade-offs between yield and soil quality, pest control, and biodiversity than did conventional management systems. Perceived drivers reported by farmers included increasing prices for cash crops, rising costs of inputs, and extreme climatic events (e.g., drought, hail, frost. Farmers did not identify the regulation of soil quality, water quality, soil erosion, pests, or pollinators as important constraints. Although acceptable yields could be maintained irrespective of key regulating and supporting services according to these perceptions, current levels of soil erosion and nutrient runoff are likely to have important negative effects at the watershed scale. Sustainability in both agroecosystems could be

Sagnac secret sharing over telecom fiber networks.

Science.gov (United States)

Bogdanski, Jan; Ahrens, Johan; Bourennane, Mohamed

2009-01-19

We report the first Sagnac quantum secret sharing (in three-and four-party implementations) over 1550 nm single mode fiber (SMF) networks, using a single qubit protocol with phase encoding. Our secret sharing experiment has been based on a single qubit protocol, which has opened the door to practical secret sharing implementation over fiber telecom channels and in free-space. The previous quantum secret sharing proposals were based on multiparticle entangled states, difficult in the practical implementation and not scalable. Our experimental data in the three-party implementation show stable (in regards to birefringence drift) quantum secret sharing transmissions at the total Sagnac transmission loop distances of 55-75 km with the quantum bit error rates (QBER) of 2.3-2.4% for the mean photon number micro?= 0.1 and 1.7-2.1% for micro= 0.3. In the four-party case we have achieved quantum secret sharing transmissions at the total Sagnac transmission loop distances of 45-55 km with the quantum bit error rates (QBER) of 3.0-3.7% for the mean photon number micro= 0.1 and 1.8-3.0% for micro?= 0.3. The stability of quantum transmission has been achieved thanks to our new concept for compensation of SMF birefringence effects in Sagnac, based on a polarization control system and a polarization insensitive phase modulator. The measurement results have showed feasibility of quantum secret sharing over telecom fiber networks in Sagnac configuration, using standard fiber telecom components.

Analysis of secreted proteins from Aspergillus flavus.

Science.gov (United States)

Medina, Martha L; Haynes, Paul A; Breci, Linda; Francisco, Wilson A

2005-08-01

MS/MS techniques in proteomics make possible the identification of proteins from organisms with little or no genome sequence information available. Peptide sequences are obtained from tandem mass spectra by matching peptide mass and fragmentation information to protein sequence information from related organisms, including unannotated genome sequence data. This peptide identification data can then be grouped and reconstructed into protein data. In this study, we have used this approach to study protein secretion by Aspergillus flavus, a filamentous fungus for which very little genome sequence information is available. A. flavus is capable of degrading the flavonoid rutin (quercetin 3-O-glycoside), as the only source of carbon via an extracellular enzyme system. In this continuing study, a proteomic analysis was used to identify secreted proteins from A. flavus when grown on rutin. The growth media glucose and potato dextrose were used to identify differentially expressed secreted proteins. The secreted proteins were analyzed by 1- and 2-DE and MS/MS. A total of 51 unique A. flavus secreted proteins were identified from the three growth conditions. Ten proteins were unique to rutin-, five to glucose- and one to potato dextrose-grown A. flavus. Sixteen secreted proteins were common to all three media. Fourteen identifications were of hypothetical proteins or proteins of unknown functions. To our knowledge, this is the first extensive proteomic study conducted to identify the secreted proteins from a filamentous fungus.

Trade networks in West Africa

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Walther, Olivier

2014-01-01

To date, most of the literature on trade networks in West Africa has considered networks in a metaphorical way. The aim of this paper is to go one step further by showing how social network analysis may be applied to the study of regional trade in West Africa. After a brief review of the literature......, this exploratory paper investigates two main issues related to regional trade. We start by discussing how recent developments in regional trade in West Africa have contributed to challenging the social structure of traders. We then discuss the changes that have affected the spatiality of regional trade by looking...

THE LEGAL CAPACITY TO TRADE

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

ADELIN UNGUREANU

2014-12-01

Full Text Available Trading is a part of our society. The man has been trading from ancient times so the amount of trades and transactions around the world is huge. In order for us to initiate, organize and deploy such trades we have to have certain rules which can help regulate the social and professional or legal aspect of trades. Therefore the sole trader capacity must be obtained and used in order for the contracts to be valid. The right and obligations that come with this capacity constitute activities that can be reflected and analysed by obtaining and maintain the sole trader status.

Trade Finance and Trade Collapse during the Global Financial Crisis: Evidence from the Republic of Korea

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

E. Young Song

2014-12-01

Full Text Available This study examines the role of trade finance in the trade collapse of 2008-09 from the perspective of the Korean economy. We use two approaches. Firstly, as background to a more formal analysis, we make a casual observation on the behavior of aggregate data on trade finance, on which Korea has relatively abundant data. Aggregate data do not convincingly support the view that trade finance played an active role in causing the trade collapse. The measures of trade finance and the value of trade both dropped sharply, but the ratio of trade finance over trade was stable and in some cases increased during the crisis period. Secondly, using quarterly data on listed firms in Korea, we conduct panel estimations to test whether firms that are more dependent on external finance experienced greater export contraction during the crisis. Our regression analysis suggests that the financial vulnerability of firms, measured by various financial ratios, did not contribute to export contraction during the financial crisis. This observation largely applies even to smaller firms, who are usually thought of as being more vulnerable financially. However, we find that small exporters that relied heavily on cross-border trade payables or receivables suffered larger drops in export growth during the crisis.

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.

Secret-key rates and privacy leakage in biometric systems

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Ignatenko, T.

2009-01-01

In this thesis both the generation of secret keys from biometric data and the binding of secret keys to biometric data are investigated. These secret keys can be used to regulate access to sensitive data, services, and environments. In a biometric secrecy system a secret key is generated or chosen

48 CFR 25.403 - World Trade Organization Government Procurement Agreement and Free Trade Agreements.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... Government Procurement Agreement and Free Trade Agreements. 25.403 Section 25.403 Federal Acquisition... 25.403 World Trade Organization Government Procurement Agreement and Free Trade Agreements. (a... in 25.402(a)(1). The WTO GPA and FTAs specify procurement procedures designed to ensure fairness (see...

The Impact of U.S. Free Trade Agreements on Calorie Availability and Obesity: A Natural Experiment in Canada.

Science.gov (United States)

Barlow, Pepita; McKee, Martin; Stuckler, David

2018-05-01

Globalization via free trade and investment agreements is often implicated in the obesity pandemic. Concerns center on how free trade and investment agreements increase population exposure to unhealthy, high-calorie diets, but existing studies preclude causal conclusions. Few studies of free trade and investment agreements and diets isolated their impact from confounding changes, and none examined any effect on caloric intake, despite its critical role in the etiology of obesity. This study addresses these limitations by analyzing a unique natural experiment arising from the exceptional circumstances surrounding the implementation of the 1989 Canada-U.S. Free Trade Agreement. Data from the UN (2017) were analyzed using fixed-effects regression models and the synthetic control method to estimate the impact of the Canada-U.S. Free Trade Agreement on calorie availability in Canada, 1978-2006, and coinciding increases in U.S. exports and investment in Canada's food and beverage sector. The impact of changes to calorie availability on body weights was then modeled. Calorie availability increased by ≅170 kilocalories per capita per day in Canada after the Canada-U.S. Free Trade Agreement. There was a coinciding rise in U.S. trade and investment in the Canadian food and beverage sector. This rise in calorie availability is estimated to account for an average weight gain of between 1.8 kg and 12.2 kg in the Canadian population, depending on sex and physical activity levels. The Canada-U.S. Free Trade Agreement was associated with a substantial rise in calorie availability in Canada. U.S. free trade and investment agreements can contribute to rising obesity and related diseases by pushing up caloric intake. Copyright © 2018 American Journal of Preventive Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Rising intracellular zinc by membrane depolarization and glucose in insulin-secreting clonal HIT-T15 beta cells.

Science.gov (United States)

Slepchenko, Kira G; Li, Yang V

2012-01-01

Zinc (Zn(2+)) appears to be intimately involved in insulin metabolism since insulin secretion is correlated with zinc secretion in response to glucose stimulation, but little is known about the regulation of zinc homeostasis in pancreatic beta-cells. This study set out to identify the intracellular zinc transient by imaging free cytosolic zinc in HIT-T15 beta-cells with fluorescent zinc indicators. We observed that membrane depolarization by KCl (30-60 mM) was able to induce a rapid increase in cytosolic concentration of zinc. Multiple zinc transients of similar magnitude were elicited during repeated stimulations. The amplitude of zinc responses was not affected by the removal of extracellular calcium or zinc. However, the half-time of the rising slope was significantly slower after removing extracellular zinc with zinc chelator CaEDTA, suggesting that extracellular zinc affect the initial rising phase of zinc response. Glucose (10 mM) induced substantial and progressive increases in intracellular zinc concentration in a similar way as KCl, with variation in the onset and the duration of zinc mobilization. It is known that the depolarization of beta-cell membrane is coupled with the secretion of insulin. Rising intracellular zinc concentration may act as a critical signaling factor in insulin metabolism of pancreatic beta-cells.

Physicians and Insider Trading.

Science.gov (United States)

Kesselheim, Aaron S; Sinha, Michael S; Joffe, Steven

2015-12-01

Although insider trading is illegal, recent high-profile cases have involved physicians and scientists who are part of corporate governance or who have access to information about clinical trials of investigational products. Insider trading occurs when a person in possession of information that might affect the share price of a company's stock uses that information to buy or sell securities--or supplies that information to others who buy or sell--when the person is expected to keep such information confidential. The input that physicians and scientists provide to business leaders can serve legitimate social functions, but insider trading threatens to undermine any positive outcomes of these relationships. We review insider-trading rules and consider approaches to securities fraud in the health care field. Given the magnitude of the potential financial rewards, the ease of concealing illegal conduct, and the absence of identifiable victims, the temptation for physicians and scientists to engage in insider trading will always be present. Minimizing the occurrence of insider trading will require robust education, strictly enforced contractual provisions, and selective prohibitions against high-risk conduct, such as participation in expert consulting networks and online physician forums, by those individuals with access to valuable inside information.

A multi-pronged search for a common structural motif in the secretion signal of Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium type III effector proteins

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Buchko, Garry W.; Niemann, George; Baker, Erin Shammel; Belov, Mikhail E.; Smith, Richard D.; Heffron, Fred; Adkins, Joshua N.; McDermott, Jason E.

2010-11-08

Many pathogenic Gram-negative bacteria use a type III secretion system (T3SS) to deliver effector proteins into the host cell where they reprogram host defenses and facilitate pathogenesis. While it has been determined that the first 20 - 30 N-terminal residues usually contain the ‘secretion signal’ that targets effector proteins for translocation, the molecular basis for recognition of this signal is not understood. Recent machine-learning approaches, such as SVM-based Identification and Evaluation of Virulence Effectors (SIEVE), have improved the ability to identify effector proteins from genomics sequence information. While these methods all suggest that the T3SS secretion signal has a characteristic amino acid composition bias, it is still unclear if the amino acid pattern is important and if there are any unifying structural properties that direct recognition. To address these issues a peptide corresponding to the secretion signal for Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium effector SseJ was synthesized (residues 1-30, SseJ) along with scrambled peptides of the same amino acid composition that produced high (SseJ-H) and low (SseJ-L) SIEVE scores. The secretion properties of these three peptides were tested using a secretion signal-CyaA fusion assay and their structures systematically probed using circular dichroism, nuclear magnetic resonance, and ion mobility spectrometry-mass spectrometry. The signal-CyaA fusion assay showed that the native and SseJ-H fusion constructs were secreted into J774 macrophage at similar levels via the SPI-2 secretion pathway while secretion of the SseJ-L fusion construct was substantially retarded, suggesting that the SseJ secretion signal was sequence order dependent. The structural studies showed that the SseJ, SseJ-H, and SseJ-L peptides were intrinsically disordered in aqueous solution with only a small predisposition to adopt nascent helical structure in the presence of the powerful structure stabilizing agent, 1

A trade balance

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Daugbjerg, Carsten; Kay, Adrian

2014-01-01

The establishment of the World Trade Organization (WTO) has been widely accepted as representing the legalisation of world trading rules. However, it is important to reflect on the limits of this legalisation thesis in terms of the interface between international and domestic policy processes. By...

Banking and trading

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Boot, A.W.A.; Ratnovski, L.

2013-01-01

We study the interaction between relationship banking and short-term, scalable arm’s length finance which we call trading. Relationship banking is not scalable, has high franchise value, is long-term oriented and low risk. Trading is transaction-based: scalable, with lower margins (capital

Trade Analysis and Safeguards

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chatelus, R.; Schot, P.M.

2010-01-01

In order to verify compliance with safeguards and draw conclusions on the absence of undeclared nuclear material and activities, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) collects and analyses trade information that it receives from open sources as well as from Member States. Although the IAEA does not intervene in national export controls, it has to monitor the trade of dual use items. Trade analysis helps the IAEA to evaluate global proliferation threats, to understand States' ability to report exports according to additional protocols but also to compare against State declarations. Consequently, the IAEA has explored sources of trade-related information and has developed analysis methodologies beyond its traditional safeguards approaches. (author)

20 CFR 604.6 - Conformity and substantial compliance.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... 20 Employees' Benefits 3 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Conformity and substantial compliance. 604.6... FOR ELIGIBILITY FOR UNEMPLOYMENT COMPENSATION § 604.6 Conformity and substantial compliance. (a) In... for the administration of its UC program. (b) Resolving Issues of Conformity and Substantial...

Pituitary-hormone secretion by thyrotropinomas

OpenAIRE

Roelfsema, Ferdinand; Kok, Simon; Kok, Petra; Pereira, Alberto M.; Biermasz, Nienke R.; Smit, Jan W.; Frolich, Marijke; Keenan, Daniel M.; Veldhuis, Johannes D.; Romijn, Johannes A.

2008-01-01

Hormone secretion by somatotropinomas, corticotropinomas and prolactinomas exhibits increased pulse frequency, basal and pulsatile secretion, accompanied by greater disorderliness. Increased concentrations of growth hormone (GH) or prolactin (PRL) are observed in about 30% of thyrotropinomas leading to acromegaly or disturbed sexual functions beyond thyrotropin (TSH)-induced hyperthyroidism. Regulation of non-TSH pituitary hormones in this context is not well understood. We there therefore ev...

Peptides and neurotransmitters that affect renin secretion

Science.gov (United States)

Ganong, W. F.; Porter, J. P.; Bahnson, T. D.; Said, S. I.

1984-01-01

Substance P inhibits renin secretion. This polypeptide is a transmitter in primary afferent neurons and is released from the peripheral as well as the central portions of these neurons. It is present in afferent nerves from the kidneys. Neuropeptide Y, which is a cotransmitter with norepinephrine and epinephrine, is found in sympathetic neurons that are closely associated with and presumably innervate the juxtagolmerular cells. Its effect on renin secretion is unknown, but it produces renal vasoconstriction and natriuresis. Vasoactive intestinal polypeptide (VIP) is a cotransmitter with acetylocholine in cholinergic neurons, and this polypeptide stimulates renin secretion. We cannot find any evidence for its occurence in neurons in the kidneys, but various stimuli increase plasma VIP to levels comparable to those produced by doses of exogenous VIP which stimulated renin secretion. Neostigmine increases plasma VIP and plasma renin activity, and the VIP appears to be responsible for the increase in renin secretion, since the increase is not blocked by renal denervation or propranolol. Stimulation of various areas in the brain produces sympathetically mediated increases in plasma renin activity associated with increases in blood pressure. However, there is pharmacological evidence that the renin response can be separated from the blood pressure response. In anaesthetized dogs, drugs that increase central serotonergic discharge increase renin secretion without increasing blood pressure. In rats, activation of sertonergic neurons in the dorsal raphe nucleus increases renin secretion by a pathway that projects from this nucleus to the ventral hypothalamus, and from there to the kidneys via the sympathetic nervous system. The serotonin releasing drug parachloramphetamine also increases plasma VIP, but VIP does not appear to be the primary mediator of the renin response. There is preliminary evidence that the serotonergic neurons in the dorsal raphe nucleus are part of the

Will They or Won't They? Secret Telling in Interpersonal Interactions.

Science.gov (United States)

Kowalski, Robin Marie; Morgan, Chad Alan; Whittaker, Elizabeth; Zaremba, Brittany; Frazee, Laura; Dean, Jessica

2015-01-01

This study investigated predictors of within-gender secret telling. Eighty-eight participants were exposed to either a "positive" or a "negative" secret about another individual. Just under 20% of participants told the secret. Conscientiousness, secret condition, empathy, and the conscientiousness by secret condition interaction had effects on the rate of secret telling, χ(2) (5,82) = 17.78, p = .003, AIC = 80.60. Conscientiousness had a negative effect on secret telling among participants that told the "negative" secret.

Combined contributions of over-secreted glucagon-like peptide 1 and suppressed insulin secretion to hyperglycemia induced by gatifloxacin in rats

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Yu, Yunli, E-mail: chrisyu1255@yahoo.com.cn [Department of Pharmaceutics, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Suzhou 215004 (China); Key Laboratory of Drug Metabolism and Pharmacokinetics, China Pharmaceutical University, Nanjing 210009 (China); Wang, Xinting, E-mail: wxinting1986@yahoo.com.cn [Key Laboratory of Drug Metabolism and Pharmacokinetics, China Pharmaceutical University, Nanjing 210009 (China); Liu, Can, E-mail: ltsan@163.com [Key Laboratory of Drug Metabolism and Pharmacokinetics, China Pharmaceutical University, Nanjing 210009 (China); Yao, Dan, E-mail: erinyao@126.com [Key Laboratory of Drug Metabolism and Pharmacokinetics, China Pharmaceutical University, Nanjing 210009 (China); Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Shanghai 201203 (China); Hu, Mengyue, E-mail: juliahmy@126.com [Key Laboratory of Drug Metabolism and Pharmacokinetics, China Pharmaceutical University, Nanjing 210009 (China); Li, Jia, E-mail: ljbzd@163.com [Key Laboratory of Drug Metabolism and Pharmacokinetics, China Pharmaceutical University, Nanjing 210009 (China); Hu, Nan, E-mail: hn_324@163.com [Key Laboratory of Drug Metabolism and Pharmacokinetics, China Pharmaceutical University, Nanjing 210009 (China); Liu, Li, E-mail: liulee@cpu.edu.cn [Key Laboratory of Drug Metabolism and Pharmacokinetics, China Pharmaceutical University, Nanjing 210009 (China); Liu, Xiaodong, E-mail: xdliu@cpu.edu.cn [Key Laboratory of Drug Metabolism and Pharmacokinetics, China Pharmaceutical University, Nanjing 210009 (China)

2013-02-01

Accumulating evidences have showed that gatifloxacin causes dysglycemia in both diabetic and non-diabetic patients. Our preliminary study demonstrated that gatifloxacin stimulated glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) secretion from intestinal cells. The aim of the study was to investigate the association between gatifloxacin-stimulated GLP-1 release and dysglycemia in both normal and streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats and explore the possible mechanisms. Oral administration of gatifloxacin (100 mg/kg/day and 200 mg/kg/day) for 3 and 12 days led to marked elevation of GLP-1 levels, accompanied by significant decrease in insulin levels and increase in plasma glucose. Similar results were found in normal rats treated with 3-day gatifloxacin. Gatifloxacin-stimulated GLP-1 release was further confirmed in NCI-H716 cells, which was abolished by diazoxide, a K{sub ATP} channel opener. QT-PCR analysis showed that gatifloxacin also upregulated expression of proglucagon and prohormone convertase 3 mRNA. To clarify the contradiction on elevated GLP-1 without insulinotropic effect, effects of GLP-1 and gatifloxacin on insulin release were investigated using INS-1 cells. We found that short exposure (2 h) to GLP-1 stimulated insulin secretion and biosynthesis, whereas long exposure (24 h and 48 h) to high level of GLP-1 inhibited insulin secretion and biosynthesis. Moreover, we also confirmed gatifloxacin acutely stimulated insulin secretion while chronically inhibited insulin biosynthesis. All the results gave an inference that gatifloxacin stimulated over-secretion of GLP-1, in turn, high levels of GLP-1 and gatifloxacin synergistically impaired insulin release, worsening hyperglycemia. -- Highlights: ► Gatifloxacin induced hyperglycemia both in diabetic rats and normal rats. ► Gatifloxacin enhanced GLP-1 secretion but inhibited insulin secretion in rats. ► Long-term exposure to high GLP-1 inhibited insulin secretion and biosynthesis. ► GLP-1 over-secretion may be

Combined contributions of over-secreted glucagon-like peptide 1 and suppressed insulin secretion to hyperglycemia induced by gatifloxacin in rats

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yu, Yunli; Wang, Xinting; Liu, Can; Yao, Dan; Hu, Mengyue; Li, Jia; Hu, Nan; Liu, Li; Liu, Xiaodong

2013-01-01

Accumulating evidences have showed that gatifloxacin causes dysglycemia in both diabetic and non-diabetic patients. Our preliminary study demonstrated that gatifloxacin stimulated glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) secretion from intestinal cells. The aim of the study was to investigate the association between gatifloxacin-stimulated GLP-1 release and dysglycemia in both normal and streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats and explore the possible mechanisms. Oral administration of gatifloxacin (100 mg/kg/day and 200 mg/kg/day) for 3 and 12 days led to marked elevation of GLP-1 levels, accompanied by significant decrease in insulin levels and increase in plasma glucose. Similar results were found in normal rats treated with 3-day gatifloxacin. Gatifloxacin-stimulated GLP-1 release was further confirmed in NCI-H716 cells, which was abolished by diazoxide, a K ATP channel opener. QT-PCR analysis showed that gatifloxacin also upregulated expression of proglucagon and prohormone convertase 3 mRNA. To clarify the contradiction on elevated GLP-1 without insulinotropic effect, effects of GLP-1 and gatifloxacin on insulin release were investigated using INS-1 cells. We found that short exposure (2 h) to GLP-1 stimulated insulin secretion and biosynthesis, whereas long exposure (24 h and 48 h) to high level of GLP-1 inhibited insulin secretion and biosynthesis. Moreover, we also confirmed gatifloxacin acutely stimulated insulin secretion while chronically inhibited insulin biosynthesis. All the results gave an inference that gatifloxacin stimulated over-secretion of GLP-1, in turn, high levels of GLP-1 and gatifloxacin synergistically impaired insulin release, worsening hyperglycemia. -- Highlights: ► Gatifloxacin induced hyperglycemia both in diabetic rats and normal rats. ► Gatifloxacin enhanced GLP-1 secretion but inhibited insulin secretion in rats. ► Long-term exposure to high GLP-1 inhibited insulin secretion and biosynthesis. ► GLP-1 over-secretion may be involved in

INTERNATIONAL TRADE WITH AGRIFOOD PRODUCTS OF ROMANIA, AS A CONSEQUENCE OF THE EUROPEAN QUALITY CONFORMITY LEVEL

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Laurentiu MUNTEANU

2013-01-01

Full Text Available The paper aimed to find the tendency of the volume of international agrifood product exchanges that should enable the substantiation of decisions regarding the structure and level of the international trade of Romania. By the adequate indicator is rendered the tendency of the import and export that should finally substantiate the degree of ensuring competitiveness on the market of Romania. We start from quantitative issues (progressive quantities of agrifood product exchanges to qualitative ones (with reference to the balance level, deducting the knowledge of policies on product quality in the market competitiveness. On such basis may be configured exchanges and twodimensional involvements of the production volume ↔commercial agrifood product exchanges.

Improving efficiency in bilateral emission trading

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Burtraw, D.; Harrison, K.W.; Turner, P.

1998-01-01

When environmental damages from emissions are spatially nonuniform, permit trading has been modeled most often as a 'pollution offset program' in which emission permits are traded between agents, subject to constraints on ambient air quality. To date the institution envisioned to implement such a program involves trading on a bilateral and sequential basis. However, simulation studies indicate that the sequence of trades may alter the outcome and undermine the cost savings from a pollution offset program. This paper identifies a design for the trading institution that tends to overcome this phenomenon and improve the efficiency of equilibria obtained in a simulation model. We model a bilateral trading process for the reduction of sulfur dioxide emissions with a stochastic description of the sequence of trades within groups of nations in Europe. When trading takes place between disaggregated, stylistic representations of economic enterprises, rather than between national governments, a significantly greater portion of potential savings is achieved. In fact, under most sets of assumptions, approximate first order stochastic dominance is achieved wherein the more decentralized the trading agents, the greater the expected savings from a trading program. 4 figs., 2 tabs., 31 refs

Shigella IpaD has a dual role: signal transduction from the type III secretion system needle tip and intracellular secretion regulation.

Science.gov (United States)

Roehrich, A Dorothea; Guillossou, Enora; Blocker, Ariel J; Martinez-Argudo, Isabel

2013-02-01

Type III secretion systems (T3SSs) are protein injection devices essential for the interaction of many Gram-negative bacteria with eukaryotic cells. While Shigella assembles its T3SS when the environmental conditions are appropriate for invasion, secretion is only activated after physical contact with a host cell. First, the translocators are secreted to form a pore in the host cell membrane, followed by effectors which manipulate the host cell. Secretion activation is tightly controlled by conserved T3SS components: the needle tip proteins IpaD and IpaB, the needle itself and the intracellular gatekeeper protein MxiC. To further characterize the role of IpaD during activation, we combined random mutagenesis with a genetic screen to identify ipaD mutant strains unable to respond to host cell contact. Class II mutants have an overall defect in secretion induction. They map to IpaD's C-terminal helix and likely affect activation signal generation or transmission. The Class I mutant secretes translocators prematurely and is specifically defective in IpaD secretion upon activation. A phenotypically equivalent mutant was found in mxiC. We show that IpaD and MxiC act in the same intracellular pathway. In summary, we demonstrate that IpaD has a dual role and acts at two distinct locations during secretion activation. © 2013 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Histaminergic regulation of prolactin secretion

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Knigge, U P

1990-01-01

Histamine (HA), which acts as a neurotransmitter in the central nervous system, participates in the neuroendocrine regulation of prolactin (PRL) secretion. HA has a predominant stimulatory effect which is mediated via H2-receptors following central administration and via H1-receptors following...... systemic infusion of the amine. In addition, HA seems to exert a minor inhibitory effect on PRL secretion, an effect unmasked only during blockade of the receptor mediating the stimulatory effect. Following central administration the inhibitory effect is mediated via H1-receptors, while following systemic...... administration this effect is mediated via H2-receptors. In accordance with these findings, the H2-receptor antagonist cimetidine (CIM) has an inhibitory (following central administration) or stimulatory (following systemic administration) effect on PRL secretion. However, high doses of CIM possess an additional...

Trading scheme 'key' to low-carbon economy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2006-01-01

Federal Opposition Leader Kim Beazley has emphasised the importance of getting the economics of environmental policy right by introducing market-based mechanisms for pricing emissions. 'Market-based mechanisms such as emissions trading are central to moving to a low-carbon economy,' he said in his latest blueprint. 'A functioning carbon market will deliver a price signal, so there is a long-term incentive to cut emissions further, and a mechanism for trading, so that energy can be allocated efficiently in the economy. It will also encourage greater private investment in clean energy technology.' Mr Beazley said the new market would also reward the many companies who were already adapting to a carbon-constrained world. 'This includes those global companies in Australia that already operate in emissions trading markets overseas. An effective price signal for carbon in Australia will allow these companies to benefit directly from their good corporate citizenship and long-term vision.' Mr Beazley has committed a federal Labor government to work with state governments and business to establish the national trading scheme. He also criticised the Federal Government for refusing to ratify the Kyoto Protocol, which he argued excluded Australian businesses from participating in the emerging global carbon trade. This made it harder for businesses to break into the market for cleaner production technologies overseas. While again admitting Kyoto was not perfect, Mr Beazley said ratification would see Australia part of what would potentially be 'the biggest market in the world by 2020'. He said the recent Asia Pacific Climate Change Pact was a positive step but was not an alternative to Kyoto. 'Above all, it has no economic mechanisms to drive further change. 'Without ratifying Kyoto some of our businesses are missing out on effective participation in international schemes that offer substantial financial rewards for greenhouse gas reductions. 'By ratifying Kyoto and adopting

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...

The role of the Federal Trade Commission in advertising health products and services.

Science.gov (United States)

Daynard, Matthew

2004-01-01

The Federal Trade Commission plays a unique role in enforcing well-established standards ensuring that consumers can make informed purchase and use decisions about health-related products and services based on truthful, non-misleading advertising claims while encouraging competition. Deceptive and unfair practices are defined. The importance of the "net impression" that ads convey to consumers and the need for substantiation of objective, factual claims is explained. The FTC uses its enforcement powers and consumer and industry outreach to create a climate for preventing misleading advertising.

An unexpected knock on Corrigan's secret door.

Science.gov (United States)

Woywodt, Alexander

2010-10-01

Corrigan's secret door describes a metaphorical escape route for busy physicians. The term was derived from the successful and exceptionally busy professional life of Irish physician Dominic John Corrigan (1802-80). It is claimed that Corrigan's outpatient clinic was so busy that he required a secret door in his consulting rooms to escape from the ever-growing queue of eager patients. The origins of this charming story are unknown, and the door may have never existed. However, at present, Corrigan's secret door is often quoted when busy physicians have their own little ways in surviving a stressful professional life. Generations of British-trained doctors have grown up with Corrigan's secret door, as it was featured in the introduction of the Oxford Handbook of Clinical Medicine. Accordingly, trainees as well as more senior doctors are often reminded that having a 'secret door' is vital in surviving in the medical profession. My own escape is through classical music and the violoncello, in particular. As the name implies, my own secret door is normally invisible to colleagues and patients. This little article is about a patient who found me out, and a reflection on the role of classical music and the cello in my professional life.

Salinity Alters the Polyisoprenoid Alcohol Content and Composition of Both Salt-Secreting and Non–Salt-Secreting Mangrove Seedlings

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mohammad Basyuni

2017-10-01

Full Text Available The effects of salinity on the polyisoprenoid alcohol content and composition of the salt-secreting mangrove species Avicennia marina and Sonneratia alba and the non–salt-secreting species Bruguiera gymnorrhiza and Kandelia obovata were studied. The seedlings of mangroves were grown for 5 months under 0% and 3% salt concentrations. The occurrence, content, and distribution of four mangrove seedlings were analyzed by two-dimensional thin layer chromatography. The structural groups of the polyprenols and dolichols in the leaves and roots were classified into two types (I and II. In type I, dolichols predominated over polyprenols (more than 90%, whereas in type II, the occurrence of both polyprenols and dolichols was observed. Polyprenols were not detected in the leaves of A. marina and B. gymnorrhiza under 0% salt (control, but were detected in small amounts in K. obovata leaves; however, significant amounts were found in the 3% salinity group. This finding in A. marina, B. gymnorrhiza, and K. obovata leaves implies a change to the structural group: under 0% salt concentrations, the groups are classified as type I, but become type II under 3% salt concentrations. The occurrence of ficaprenol (C50–55 was found only in the leaves of the non–salt-secreting species B. gymnorrhiza and K. obovata under 3% salinity and not in the salt-secreting species A. marina or S. alba. It is noteworthy that the polyisoprenoid type in the roots of the four species showed no change under salinity; the two salt-secreting species A. marina and S. alba contained type I under 0% and 3% salt concentrations. On the other hand, type II polyisoprenoids were identified in the non–salt-secreting species B. gymnorrhiza and K. obovata under 0% and 3% salinity conditions. This finding suggested that polyisoprenoids play a protective role against salinity in the mangrove leaves of both salt-secreting and non–salt-secreting species.

Secrets and Disclosures: How Young Children Handle Secrets

Science.gov (United States)

Anagnostaki, Lida; Wright, Michael J.; Papathanasiou, Athanasia

2013-01-01

The authors examined the influence of content and verbal cues on young children's understanding of secret information and of its disclosure. Participants were 209 5- and 6-year-old children in an experiment where a puppet, named Zinc, was the protagonist. Children were asked to whom Zinc would disclose a list of pieces of information, some of…

19 CFR 10.7 - Substantial containers or holders.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... 19 Customs Duties 1 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Substantial containers or holders. 10.7 Section 10... Exported and Returned § 10.7 Substantial containers or holders. (a) Substantial containers or holders... domestic products exported and returned. When such containers or holders are imported not containing or...

International trade and inequality

OpenAIRE

Urata, Sh¯ujir¯o; Narjoko, Dionisius A.

2017-01-01

The impact of globalization on equality has become a serious concern for many countries. More evidence that challenges the theoretical prediction of positive impact of international trade on income distribution has increasingly become available recently. This paper addresses this subject, surveying the empirical findings on the impact of international trade on inequalities from various perspectives. The survey reveals that an increase in trade openness by developing countries appears to have ...

International Organizations and Trade

OpenAIRE

Antras, Pol

2010-01-01

The three central primitives of international trade theory are consumer preferences, factor endowments, and the production technologies that allow firms to transform factors of production into consumer goods. A limitation of traditional trade theory, however, is that the specification of technology treats the mapping between factors of production and final goods as a black box. In practice, the decisions of agents in organizations determine this mapping. Recently, international trade economis...

Trade and climate change

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Tamiotti, L.; Teh, R.; Kulacoglu, V. (World Trade Organization (WTO), Geneva (Switzerland)); Olhoff, A.; Simmons, B.; Abaza, H. (United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) (Denmark))

2009-06-15

The Report aims to improve understanding about the linkages between trade and climate change. It shows that trade intersects with climate change in a multitude of ways. For example, governments may introduce a variety of policies, such as regulatory measures and economic incentives, to address climate change. This complex web of measures may have an impact on international trade and the multilateral trading system. The Report begins with a summary of the current state of scientific knowledge on climate change and on the options available for responding to the challenge of climate change. The scientific review is followed by a part on the economic aspects of the link between trade and climate change, and these two parts set the context for the subsequent parts of the Report, which looks at the policies introduced at both the international and national level to address climate change. The part on international policy responses to climate change describes multilateral efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and to adapt to the effects of climate change, and also discusses the role of the current trade and environment negotiations in promoting trade in technologies that aim to mitigate climate change. The final part of the Report gives an overview of a range of national policies and measures that have been used in a number of countries to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and to increase energy efficiency. It presents key features in the design and implementation of these policies, in order to draw a clearer picture of their overall effect and potential impact on environmental protection, sustainable development and trade. It also gives, where appropriate, an overview of the WTO rules that may be relevant to such measures. (author)

Trading strategies in the overnight money market: Correlations and clustering on the e-MID trading platform

Science.gov (United States)

Fricke, Daniel

2012-12-01

We analyze the correlations in patterns of trading for members of the Italian interbank trading platform e-MID. The trading strategy of a particular member institution is defined as the sequence of (intra-) daily net trading volumes within a certain semester. Based on this definition, we show that there are significant and persistent bilateral correlations between institutions’ trading strategies. In most semesters we find two clusters, with positively (negatively) correlated trading strategies within (between) clusters. We show that the two clusters mostly contain continuous net buyers and net sellers of money, respectively, and that cluster memberships of individual banks are highly persistent. Additionally, we highlight some problems related to our definition of trading strategies. Our findings add further evidence on the fact that preferential lending relationships on the micro-level lead to community structure on the macro-level.

Graduated Sovereignty and Global Governance Gaps: Special Economic Zones and the Illicit Trade In Tobacco Products.

Science.gov (United States)

Holden, Chris

2017-07-01

Illicit trade in tobacco products has been a significant problem globally for many years. It allows cigarettes to be sold far below their legal price and thus contributes to higher consumption, morbidity and mortality, and deprives state treasuries of a substantial amount of revenue. This article identifies special economic zones (SEZs), particularly free trade zones, as a key conduit for this illicit trade. The development of SEZs as weak points in the global governance architecture is explained with reference to the concept of 'graduated sovereignty', whereby the uniform management of territory by modern states has given way to a more spatially selective form of territorial governance, in which some slices of territory are more fully integrated into the world economy than others via various forms of differential regulation. Attempts to comprehensively (re)regulate SEZs, in the face of growing evidence of the dysfunctionalities that they can engender, have so far been unsuccessful. It is concluded that the neo-liberal global economy has facilitated a regulatory 'race to the bottom', a problem that can only ultimately be overcome by international negotiation and agreement.

Regulation of atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP) secretion

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ruskoaho, H.; Toth, M.; Lang, R.E.; Unger, Th.; Garten, D.

1986-01-01

To investigate the role of calcium, protein kinase C and adenylate cyclase in the ANP secretion, the secretory responses from isolated perfused rat hearts to a calcium channel activator, Bay k8644 (methyl-1,4-dihydro-2,6-dimethyl-3-nitro-4-(2-trifluomethylphenyl)-2-pyridine-5-carboxylate), the calcium ionophore (A23187), the phorbol ester (12-0-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate, TPA), and to forskolin were studied. ANP in perfusate was measured by radioimmunoassay 10 min before and during the infusion (30 min) of various agents at 2 min intervals. A23187 (5.7 x 10 -7 ) induced a sharp increase, whereas TPA (0.15 - 1.6 x 10 -7 ) caused a slowly progressive increase in ANP secretion. 4a-phorbol-12,13-didecanoate, a non-active phorbol ester, had no effect on ANP secretion. Bay k8644 (4 x 10 -7 ) and forskolin (1 x 10 -6 ) alone caused small but sustained increase in ANP secretion. The combination of TPA with Bay k8644, forskolin or A23187 stimulated ANP secretion higher than the calculated additive value for each agent. Dibuturyl-cAMP (1.6 x 10 -4 ) pretreatment also enhanced TPA-induced ANP release. 8-Bromo-cGMP (1.3 x 10 -4 ) and sodium nitroprusside (9 x 10 -5 ) alone had no effect, but both attenuated the TPA-induced ANP secretion. The results suggest that atrial cardiocytes possess at least two different secretory pathways for ANP secretion, which are probably dependent on protein kinase C and cyclic AMP

Transporter-mediated biofuel secretion.

Science.gov (United States)

Doshi, Rupak; Nguyen, Tuan; Chang, Geoffrey

2013-05-07

Engineering microorganisms to produce biofuels is currently among the most promising strategies in renewable energy. However, harvesting these organisms for extracting biofuels is energy- and cost-intensive, limiting the commercial feasibility of large-scale production. Here, we demonstrate the use of a class of transport proteins of pharmacological interest to circumvent the need to harvest biomass during biofuel production. We show that membrane-embedded transporters, better known to efflux lipids and drugs, can be used to mediate the secretion of intracellularly synthesized model isoprenoid biofuel compounds to the extracellular milieu. Transporter-mediated biofuel secretion sustainably maintained an approximate three- to fivefold boost in biofuel production in our Escherichia coli test system. Because the transporters used in this study belong to the ubiquitous ATP-binding cassette protein family, we propose their use as "plug-and-play" biofuel-secreting systems in a variety of bacteria, cyanobacteria, diatoms, yeast, and algae used for biofuel production. This investigation showcases the potential of expressing desired membrane transport proteins in cell factories to achieve the export or import of substances of economic, environmental, or therapeutic importance.

15 CFR 30.52 - Foreign Trade Zones.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 15 Commerce and Foreign Trade 1 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Foreign Trade Zones. 30.52 Section 30.52 Commerce and Foreign Trade Regulations Relating to Commerce and Foreign Trade BUREAU OF THE CENSUS, DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE FOREIGN TRADE REGULATIONS Import Requirements § 30.52 Foreign Trade Zones. Foreign...

Trading Cost Management of Mutual Funds

NARCIS (Netherlands)

R. Xing (Rang)

2016-01-01

textabstractThis paper documents the trading behaviour of actively managed equity mutual funds from the perspective of their trading cost management. Consistent with the predictions in the literature of portfolio choice with trading costs, I present three main findings. Firstly, mutual funds trade

Assessing international trade in healthcare services

OpenAIRE

Herman, Lior

2009-01-01

Growing evidence indicates that international trade in healthcare services is growing. Nevertheless, a major literature gap exists with regard to the nature of international healthcare trade and its extent. Taking a comprehensive approach, this research examines the magnitude, directions, patterns of specialisation, growth and other aspects related to international trade in healthcare services. Within this framework, trade is analysed with regard to cross border trade, consumption of healthca...

Challenges to the Multilateral Trading System

OpenAIRE

Peter Sutherland

2007-01-01

Ever since the GATT was established in 1948, the growth in international trade and economic growth has been remarkable. The traditional mercantilism of trade relations is less and less appropriate for the global economy. Bilateral trade deals make the business environment more complex and unpredictable. Preferential trading agreements erode the principle of non-discrimination. They distort trade away from the underlying comparative advantage; create rents which are appropriated by special pro...

THE TRADE UNIONS IN TODAY’S RUSSIA: SOME DIRECTIONS OF RESEARCH

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sergey Sergeevich Anosov

2017-11-01

Full Text Available Purpose. The purpose of this article is a preliminary analysis of some areas of research of the institute of trade unions in Russian society, the definition of the most significant approaches, and fixing of the main research topics raised in connection with this social phenomenon. Methodology. Methods of comparative, institutional, structural-functional, and, in part, historical analysis were utilized. In general, the methods used are determined by the one or other of the approaches analyzed that in turn specify a specific analysis methodology. Results. It is demonstrated that the phenomenon of trade unions continues to be actively studied in the social sciences, what is connected with the need to rethink the role and significance of the “early industrial” institutions in modern society. It is shown that the following topics are to be the heuristic tools for studying this institution: functionality, as compliance of generic, initial tasks of the institute and actually performed functions; the role of trade unions in social consolidation and integration, related to the peculiarities of the realization in Russia of the formula of “tripartism”, or social dialogue between the state, business and society, in which the unions have a role to play; institutional trust, expressed in varying degrees of social support for this institution and its legitimization on the part of mass consciousness. It was also demonstrated that one of the most promising areas of research could be the institutional analysis of trade unions on the basis of theories that pay attention to the sociocultural and historical foundations of institutional design and development. Practical implications. The obtained results can be applied in substantiating further studies of the phenomenon of the trade union movement in the domestic society, becoming an element of educational and methodological materials in educational practice, and serving as one of the theoretical and

Trade policy and public health.

Science.gov (United States)

Friel, Sharon; Hattersley, Libby; Townsend, Ruth

2015-03-18

Twenty-first-century trade policy is complex and affects society and population health in direct and indirect ways. Without doubt, trade policy influences the distribution of power, money, and resources between and within countries, which in turn affects the natural environment; people's daily living conditions; and the local availability, quality, affordability, and desirability of products (e.g., food, tobacco, alcohol, and health care); it also affects individuals' enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health. In this article, we provide an overview of the modern global trade environment, illustrate the pathways between trade and health, and explore the emerging twenty-first-century trade policy landscape and its implications for health and health equity. We conclude with a call for more interdisciplinary research that embraces complexity theory and systems science as well as the political economy of health and that includes monitoring and evaluation of the impact of trade agreements on health.

Expatriates and trade

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Konečný, Tomáš

-, č. 387 (2009), s. 1-29 ISSN 1211-3298 R&D Projects: GA MŠk LC542 Grant - others:GA UK(CZ) 118909 Institutional research plan: CEZ:MSM0021620846 Keywords : international trade * migration * informal trade barriers Subject RIV: AH - Economics http://www.cerge-ei.cz/pdf/wp/Wp387.pdf

Kinetics of alpha-amylase secretion in Aspergillus oryzae

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Henriksen, Anne Laurence Santerre; Carlsen, Morten; Bang de, H.

1999-01-01

-chase experiments were carried out to investigate the alpha-amylase secretion kinetics in A. oryzae. No unglycosylated alpha-amylase was detected neither intracellularly nor extracellularly demonstrating that glycosylation was not the rate controlling step in the secretory pathway. The pulse chase experiments...... indicated that there are two pools of intracellular alpha-amylase: a fast secreted and a slow secreted. The secretion of those two pools were described with a kinetic model, which was fitted to the pulse chase experiments. (C) 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Biotechnol Bioeng 65: 76-82, 1999....

Bile Formation and Secretion

Science.gov (United States)

Boyer, James L.

2014-01-01

Bile is a unique and vital aqueous secretion of the liver that is formed by the hepatocyte and modified down stream by absorptive and secretory properties of the bile duct epithelium. Approximately 5% of bile consists of organic and inorganic solutes of considerable complexity. The bile-secretory unit consists of a canalicular network which is formed by the apical membrane of adjacent hepatocytes and sealed by tight junctions. The bile canaliculi (~1 μm in diameter) conduct the flow of bile countercurrent to the direction of portal blood flow and connect with the canal of Hering and bile ducts which progressively increase in diameter and complexity prior to the entry of bile into the gallbladder, common bile duct, and intestine. Canalicular bile secretion is determined by both bile salt-dependent and independent transport systems which are localized at the apical membrane of the hepatocyte and largely consist of a series of adenosine triphosphate-binding cassette transport proteins that function as export pumps for bile salts and other organic solutes. These transporters create osmotic gradients within the bile canalicular lumen that provide the driving force for movement of fluid into the lumen via aquaporins. Species vary with respect to the relative amounts of bile salt-dependent and independent canalicular flow and cholangiocyte secretion which is highly regulated by hormones, second messengers, and signal transduction pathways. Most determinants of bile secretion are now characterized at the molecular level in animal models and in man. Genetic mutations serve to illuminate many of their functions. PMID:23897680

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.

Inferring Trade Direction from Intraday Data.

OpenAIRE

Lee, Charles M C; Ready, Mark J

1991-01-01

This paper evaluates alternative methods for classifying individual trades as market buy or market sell orders using intraday trade and quote data. The authors document two potential problems with quote-based methods of trade classification: quotes may be recorded ahead of trades that triggered them, and trades inside the spread are not readily classifiable. These problems are analyzed in the context of the interaction between exchange floor agents. The authors then propose and test relativel...

Multi-Period Trading via Convex Optimization

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Boyd, Stephen; Busseti, Enzo; Diamond, Steve

2017-01-01

We consider a basic model of multi-period trading, which can be used to evaluate the performance of a trading strategy. We describe a framework for single-period optimization, where the trades in each period are found by solving a convex optimization problem that trades off expected return, risk......, transaction cost and holding cost such as the borrowing cost for shorting assets. We then describe a multi-period version of the trading method, where optimization is used to plan a sequence of trades, with only the first one executed, using estimates of future quantities that are unknown when the trades....... In this paper, we do not address a critical component in a trading algorithm, the predictions or forecasts of future quantities. The methods we describe in this paper can be thought of as good ways to exploit predictions, no matter how they are made. We have also developed a companion open-source software...

Threshold quantum secret sharing based on single qubit

Science.gov (United States)

Lu, Changbin; Miao, Fuyou; Meng, Keju; Yu, Yue

2018-03-01

Based on unitary phase shift operation on single qubit in association with Shamir's ( t, n) secret sharing, a ( t, n) threshold quantum secret sharing scheme (or ( t, n)-QSS) is proposed to share both classical information and quantum states. The scheme uses decoy photons to prevent eavesdropping and employs the secret in Shamir's scheme as the private value to guarantee the correctness of secret reconstruction. Analyses show it is resistant to typical intercept-and-resend attack, entangle-and-measure attack and participant attacks such as entanglement swapping attack. Moreover, it is easier to realize in physic and more practical in applications when compared with related ones. By the method in our scheme, new ( t, n)-QSS schemes can be easily constructed using other classical ( t, n) secret sharing.

Ionizing radiation in secret services' conspirative actions

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Vogel, H. [Asklepios Klinik St. Georg, Roentgenabteilung, Lohmuehlenstrasse 5, 20099 Hamburg (Germany)], E-mail: Hermann.vogel@ak-stgeorg.lbk-hh.de; Lotz, P.; Vogel, B. [Asklepios Klinik St. Georg, Roentgenabteilung, Lohmuehlenstrasse 5, 20099 Hamburg (Germany)

2007-08-15

Introduction: The death of Litvinenko has been reported by the media. It has raised the question whether this case had been unique. The fall of the wall has allowed a glimpse in the planning and comporting of a secret service. Material and method: Documents of the secret service of the former German democratic republic (GDR), books of defectors, and media reports about secret service actions with radiating substances have been analyzed. Results: Since decades, secret services have been using radioactive nuclides and radiation for their tasks. Several killings with radiation have been reported. A complicated logistic had been developed. Conclusion: Only singular cases of the employment of radiating substances have become known. It is probable that the majority rests unknown. Government support seems necessary in secret services' conspirative actions with radiating substance.

Firm Based Trade Models and Turkish Economy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nilüfer ARGIN

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Among all international trade models, only The Firm Based Trade Models explains firm’s action and behavior in the world trade. The Firm Based Trade Models focuses on the trade behavior of individual firms that actually make intra industry trade. Firm Based Trade Models can explain globalization process truly. These approaches include multinational cooperation, supply chain and outsourcing also. Our paper aims to explain and analyze Turkish export with Firm Based Trade Models’ context. We use UNCTAD data on exports by SITC Rev 3 categorization to explain total export and 255 products and calculate intensive-extensive margins of Turkish firms.

Weegee’s City Secrets

OpenAIRE

TRACHTENBERG, Alan

2011-01-01

En tant que photographe indépendant de meurtres, d’accidents, d’incendies, mais aussi de moments de loisirs dans la ville — de scènes de violence et de plaisir — Weegee travaillait essentiellement la nuit et utilisait un flash puissant associé à son appareil-photo de presse. Ses « secrets pour réaliser des photographies avec un flash » consistent à donner des conseils pratiques et techniques pour débutants. Mais au cœur de la rhétorique de ses « secrets » se trouvent des réflexions subtiles e...

Identification and characterization of a type III secretion-associated chaperone in the type III secretion system 1 of Vibrio parahaemolyticus.

Science.gov (United States)

Akeda, Yukihiro; Okayama, Kanna; Kimura, Tomomi; Dryselius, Rikard; Kodama, Toshio; Oishi, Kazunori; Iida, Tetsuya; Honda, Takeshi

2009-07-01

Vibrio parahaemolyticus causes human gastroenteritis. Genomic sequencing of this organism has revealed that it has two sets of type III secretion systems, T3SS1 and T3SS2, both of which are important for its pathogenicity. However, the mechanism of protein secretion via T3SSs is unknown. A characteristic of many effectors is that they require specific chaperones for efficient delivery via T3SSs; however, no chaperone has been experimentally identified in the T3SSs of V. parahaemolyticus. In this study, we identified candidate T3SS1-associated chaperones from genomic sequence data and examined their roles in effector secretion/translocation and binding to their cognate substrates. From these experiments, we concluded that there is a T3S-associated chaperone, VecA, for a cytotoxic T3SS1-dependent effector, VepA. Further analysis using pulldown and secretion assays characterized the chaperone-binding domain encompassing the first 30-100 amino acids and an amino terminal secretion signal encompassing the first 5-20 amino acids on VepA. These findings will provide a strategy to clarify how the T3SS1 of V. parahaemolyticus secretes its specific effectors.

Leading Trade Networks in the Context of Globalisation of the World Retail Trade

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kavun Olha O.

2013-12-01

Full Text Available The article considers main tendencies of development of trade networks during 2002 – 2012 and determines that the overwhelming majority of them increased their presence in foreign markets. It analyses specific features of manifestation of the expansion policy by trade structures depending on the region of their origin. It studies motives that make leading retailers go out of boundaries of the national markets. Main of them are sharpening of competition in domestic, more mature markets, due to increase of concentration of network structures and also application of the state policy of restrictions in the trading activity. It considers methods that were selected by major trade networks in 2011 – 2012 for entering foreign markets. It establishes that the most popular was franchising. It determines directions of manifestation of regulation barriers, faced by major trade networks of the world when entering markets of developing countries. It establishes that major national structures, which are the main competitors for international trade networks and which make them develop a more weighted approach to making decisions that are connected with entering a new market and adjustment of existing strategies of development, are represented in markets of individual countries, in particular, in Asia and South Africa.

Impaired insulin secretion in the spontaneous diabetes rats.

Science.gov (United States)

Kimura, K; Toyota, T; Kakizaki, M; Kudo, M; Takebe, K; Goto, Y

1982-08-01

Dynamics of insulin and glucagon secretion were investigated by using a new model of spontaneous diabetes rats produced by the repetition of selective breeding in our laboratories. The perfusion experiments of the pancreas showed that the early phase of insulin secretion to continuous stimulation with glucose was specifically impaired, although the response of the early phase to arginine was preserved. The glucose-induced insulin secretion in the nineth generation (F8) which had a more remarkably impaired glucose tolerance was more reduced than in the sixth generation (F5). No significant difference of glucagon secretion in response to arginine or norepinephrine was noted between the diabetes rats and control ones. The present data indicate that the defective insulin secretion is a primary derangement in a diabetic state of the spontaneous diabetes rat. This defect in the early phase of glucose-induced insulin secretion suggests the specific impairment of the recognition of glucose by the pancreatic beta-cells. The spontaneous diabetes rats are very useful as a model of disease for investigating pathophysiology of non-insulin dependent diabetes mellitus.

Suggestions for foreign trade enterprises to reduce cost after implementation of RMB cross-border trade settlement

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jie Min

2017-03-01

Full Text Available After RMB cross-border trade settlement was implemented, the ability of foreign trade enterprises to evade foreign exchange risk has enhanced to a great extent. In the meantime, with exchange rate fluctuations, foreign trade enterprises have become more sensitive with exchange rate variation. Based on predecessors’achievement, this thesis reasonably proposed a cost model applicable to foreign trade enterprises, in which the variables are all related to exchange rate. Therefore, by making exchange rate estimation, this thesis conducted data analysis and modeling, so as to find a way for foreign trade enterprises to predict exchange rate in a reasonable way. The thesis reached the conclusion that foreign trade enterprises can better control their cost based on RMB cross-border settlement.

Trade, investment and the environment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ward, H.; Brack, D.

2000-01-01

As liberalisation of global trade and investment accelerates, what happens to the environment? As the world heads for confrontation in Seattle, the questions intensify. Does foreign direct investment mean forsaking environmental protection? Or do multinational corporations export higher standards when they invest abroad? Can a powerful trading nation ban imports of tropical timber produced unsustainably? Should the World Trade Organisation take the views of industry or environmental groups into account when deciding? Must world trade rules be changed to accommodate environmental concerns? This book analyzes key issues in this increasingly controversial arena and includes contributions from Renato Ruggiero, former Director General of the World Trade Organization; The Rt Hon Brian Wilson MP, former UK Minister of Trade; Dr Magda Shahin, Deputy Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs at the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Pradeep Mehta, Secretary General, Consumer Unity and Trust Society, India; and Dr Michel Potier, Head of the Economics Division at the OECD's Environment Directorate. (Author)

Measuring the Information Content of Stock Trades.

OpenAIRE

Hasbrouck, Joel

1991-01-01

This paper suggests that the interactions of security trades and quote revisions be modeled as a vector autoregressive system. Within this framework, a trade's information effect may be meaningfully measured as the ultimate price impact of the trade innovation. Estimates for a sample of NYSE issues suggest a trade's full price impact arrives only with a protracted lag; the impact is a positive and concave function of the trade size; large trades cause the spread to widen; trades occurring in ...

Illicit Cigarette Trade in Five South American Countries: A Gap Analysis for Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia and Peru.

Science.gov (United States)

Paraje, Guillermo

2018-05-15

Due to its nature, it is very hard to measure tobacco illicit trade in any product. In the case of Latin American countries, there is scant information on the magnitude and characteristics of this trade in the case of cigarettes. The goal of this article is to provide estimates on the evolution of the illicit cigarette trade in five South American countries: Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia and Peru. Gap analysis estimates for cigarette tax evasion/avoidance (a comparison on the evolution of the difference between registered cigarette sales and measured population consumption) is developed for Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia and Peru. Nationally representative surveys, conducted regularly, are used to measure population consumption. Confidence intervals constructed by bootstrapping sample estimates are generated in order to statistically evaluate the evolution of the gap. Cigarette illicit trade has increased as a percentage of total sales in Brazil in recent years. In the case of Argentina, after a relative decrease between 2005 and 2009 it seems to have stabilized. There is no statistical evidence to argue that there has been an increase of cigarette illicit trade in Chile, Colombia and Peru, despite substantial price increases in Chile and tax increase in both Colombia and Peru. Using simple statistical methods, it is possible to assess the trend in tobacco illicit trend over time to better inform policy-makers. Getting reliable and regular population consumption surveys can also help to track tobacco illicit trade. Claims by tobacco industry of a positive association between price/tax changes and illicit trade are unsubstantiated. Evolution of cigarette illicit trade in five Latin American countries show different trajectories, not in line with tobacco industry estimates, which highlight the importance of producing solid, independent estimates. There are inexpensive methodologies that can provide estimates of the evolution of the relative importance of

Trading Fees and Slow-Moving Capital

OpenAIRE

Buss, Adrian; Dumas, Bernard J

2015-01-01

In some situations, investment capital seems to move slowly towards profitable trades. We develop a model of a financial market in which capital moves slowly simply because there is a proportional cost to moving capital. We incorporate trading fees in an infinite-horizon dynamic general-equilibrium model in which investors optimally and endogenously decide when and how much to trade. We determine the steady-state equilibrium no-trade zone, study the dynamics of equilibrium trades and prices a...

Bucarest, Strictement Secret

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ionela Mihai

2010-07-01

Full Text Available L’émission Bucarest, strictement secret représente un documentaire organisésous la forme d’une série télé, qui dépeint le Bucarest à partir de deux perspectives: de l’histoire, de la conte et du lieu. La valeur d’une cité réside dans l’existence d’une mystique, d’un romantisme abscons, à part et des caractères empruntés de drames de Shakespeare, mystérieux, serrés d’angoisse et des secrets qui assombrissent leur existence. Par conséquence, le rôle du metteur en scène est de dévoiler leur vraie identité et de remettre en place, autant que possible, la vérité.