How integrated is SADC ? trends in intra-regional and extra-regional trade flows and policy

Do Southern African Development Community countries trade enough with each other and with the rest of the world? Although its share of world trade has fallen, appropriate benchmarking shows that, controlling for gross domestic product and other characteristics, Southern African Development Community countries have experienced an increase in openness that is comparable to other developing countries. Once market size and geography are taken into account, trade between Southern African Development Community countries is actually high. Southern African Development Community countries also trade more products with each other than they do with the rest of the world. In this sense, and contrary to stylized fears, the Southern African Development Community region is quite integrated. Although the Southern African Development Community has reduced its tariffs, the structure remains complex and could be lowered on intermediates. Other impediments make it costly and difficult to move goods, but are at levels that are comparable with countries at similar levels of development. Although this may be surprising, there is still scope for improvement and the disadvantageous geography of the Southern African Development Community makes it important for other trade impediments to be reduced.Free Trade,Environmental Economics&Policies,Economic Theory&Research,Trade Policy,Trade Law

ESTIIMATING ELASTICITIES OF DEMAND AND SUPPLY FOR SOUTH AFRICAN MANUFACTURED EXPORTS USING A VECTOR ERROR CORRECTION MODEL

Elasticities of demand and supply for South African manufactured exports are estimated using a vector error correction model in order to address simultaneity and non-stationarity issues. Demand is highly price- elastic, with elasticities ranging from -3 to –6. The price elasticity of supply is generally about 1, but some estimates are as low as 0.35. Competitors’ prices and world income are important determinants of demand, but domestic capacity utilization is not an important determinant of export supply. Many different data alternatives are sourced, constructed and estimated, showing the results can be sensitive to the choice of series.

Estimating elasticities of demand and supply for South African manufactured exports using a vector error correction model

Elasticities of demand and supply for South African manufactured exports are estimated using a vector error correction model in order to address simultaneity and non-stationarity issues. Demand is highly price-elastic, with elasticities ranging from -3 to -6. The price elasticity of supply is generally about 1, but some estimates are as low as 0.35. Competitors’ prices and world income are important determinants of demand, but domestic capacity utilization is not an important determinant of export supply. Many different data alternatives are sourced, constructed and estimated, showing the results can be sensitive to the choice of series.

Trade liberalisation and labour demand within South African manufacturing firms

Using new detailed tariff data, wages disaggregated by skill level and firm level information, this paper ascertains the relationships between trade, technology and labour demand and investigates the effects of tariff changes on factor prices in South African manufacturing. We find evidence that trade liberalization and technological change have affected the skill structure of employment. Export orientation, raw materials imports, training, investment in computers and firm age are positively associated with the skill intensity of production. We also find that tariff liberalisation raised the return to capital relative to labour, but that the negative impact on labour is concentrated on semi-skilled workers. Tariff liberalisation mandated a rise in real returns to unskilled workers.

Barcarola

https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/mmb-ps/1176/thumbnail.jp

Changes in composition and biological activity of the phenolic compounds from Ribes magellanicum and Ribes punctatum after in vitro gastrointestinal digestion and colonic fermentation

223 p.The wild Chilean currants Ribes magellanicum and Ribes punctatum are a good source of polyphenolic compounds with interesting bioactivities in several in vitro models. The effect of simulated gastrointestinal digestion (GID) and in vitro colonic fermentation on phenolic content, composition and antioxidant capacity was determined. The inhibitory activity of the non-digested, digested, and fermented samples towards metabolic syndrome-associated enzymes (α-amylase, α-glucosidase, and lipase) was evaluated. The anti-inflammatory activities of the gastro-intestinal digested PEEs were assessed using differentiated human Caco-2 (clone C2BBe1) cells stimulated with interleukin 1β (IL-1β). The inhibitory effect of non-digested and digested PEEs towards human cyclooxygenase 1 (COX-1) and COX-2 and the gene expression of COX-2 and inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) was determined. The potential prebiotic-like effect of the pre-digested PEEs was evaluated in a simulated colon model. Digested PEEs were submitted to a colonic fermentation with feces from healthy human donors. Samples were taken at 1, 4, 8 and 24 h of incubation, monitoring pH, ammonia, branched-chain fatty acids (BCFA), short-chain fatty acids (SCFA) and bacterial growth. FOS (fructooligosaccharides) and fecal slurry without treatments were positive and negative control, respectively. The total phenolic (TP) and flavonoid contents (TF) decreased by about 50 % at the end of the in vitro GID. Main anthocyanins and hydroxycinnamic acids were strongly affected by this process, with a loss of about 80 %. A decrease in the antioxidant activity was observed throughout the digestion steps, which was correlated with the reduction in the TP and TF content. After the in vitro GID of the samples, only the inhibition of α-glucosidase was preserved. The phenolic profiles of the fermented samples showed significant changes after 24 h incubation. Nine metabolites, derived from the microbial fermentation, were tentatively identified, including dihydrocaffeic acid, dihydrocaffeoyl-,dihydroferuloylquinic acid, 1-(3,4-dihydroxyphenyl)-3-(2,4,6-trihydroxyphenyl)propan-2-ol (3,4-diHPP-2-ol), among others. The content of anthocyanins and hydroxycinnamic acids was most affected by simulated colonic conditions, with a loss of 71–92 % and 90–100 % after 24 h incubation, respectively. The highest antioxidant capacity values (ORAC) were reached after 8 h incubation. The inhibitory activity against the enzyme α-glucosidase was maintained after the fermentation process. The digested PEE from R. punctatum decreased the secretion of IL-8, IL-6, and TNF-α; whereas R. magellanicum reduced IL-6 and TNF-α in the Caco-2 cells (p < 0.05). Both digested extracts significantly down-regulated the mRNA expression of COX-2 and iNOS (p < 0.05). PEEs showed 60 % of inhibition towards COXs, with higher inhibition against COX-2. The PEEs from R. punctatum displayed better anti-inflammatory activity in all the experiments. Both Ribes species reduced (p < 0.05) both BCFA and SCFA at 24 h. R. punctatum promoted the growth (p < 0.05) of beneficial bacteria such as Clostridium cluster XIVa, and Faecalibacterium prausnitzii. A trend to increase Akkermansia muciniphila was observed. R. magellanicum increased (p < 0.05) Clostridium cluster XIVa population. Total bacteria, Escherichia coli, Lactobacillus spp. and Bifidobacterium spp. remained unaffected. Our results show that the simulated GID and colonic fermentation modified the polyphenolic composition, influencing their potential health-promoting properties of the studied currants. Polyphenols from R. magellanicum and R. punctatum might be useful against intestine inflammation and possibly modulate both, bacterial metabolism and selected gut beneficial bacteria under simulated conditions. Therefore, Chilean currants might be useful as supplements to maintain a healthy colon. However, further in vivo studies are needed to confirm their prebiotic-like and anti-inflammatory effects

analysis of standard and innovative methods for allocating upstream and refinery ghg emissions to oil products

Alternative fuel policies need accurate and transparent methods to find the embedded carbon intensity of individual refinery products. This study investigates different ways of allocating greenhouse gases emissions deriving from refining and upstream crude oil supply. Allocation methods based on mass, energy content, economic value and, innovatively, added-value, are compared with the marginal refining emissions calculated by CONCAWE's linear-programming model to the average EU refinery, which has been adopted as reference in EU legislation. Beside the most important transportation fuels (gasoline, diesel, kerosene/jet fuel and heavy fuel oil), the analysis extends to petroleum coke and refinery hydrogen. Moreover, novel criteria, based on the implications due to hydrogen usage by each fuel pathway, have been introduced to test the consistency of the analyzed approaches

A thermodynamical fiber bundle model for the fracture of disordered materials

We investigate a disordered version of a thermodynamic fiber bundle model proposed by Selinger, Wang, Gelbart, and Ben-Shaul a few years ago. For simple forms of disorder, the model is analytically tractable and displays some new features. At either constant stress or constant strain, there is a non monotonic increase of the fraction of broken fibers as a function of temperature. Moreover, the same values of some macroscopic quantities as stress and strain may correspond to different microscopic cofigurations, which can be essential for determining the thermal activation time of the fracture. We argue that different microscopic states may be characterized by an experimentally accessible analog of the Edwards-Anderson parameter. At zero temperature, we recover the behavior of the irreversible fiber bundle model.Comment: 18 pages, 10 figure

Surviving the Journey Home: Social Support and Student Sojourner

A small, southeastern Christian university has two independent programs for students studying abroad or serving as missionaries for an academic year. This study examines the correlation between perceived support students felt from their university and their academic success in their first returning semester. Because of the differences in these programs our research sought to examine student perceived support before, during and after their year abroad with GPA before and after their experience. No correlation was found between perceived support and academic success, but findings showed that neither group of student sojourners felt significantly supported during the year abroad. Study abroad students’ GPA drop significantly in their first return semester while student missionaries’ GPA dropped only marginally. Further research should identify effective means to increase perceived support of students while abroad and to determine if learning shock may explain the significant drop in study abroad student GPAs

Dystonia Management: What to Expect From the Future? The Perspectives of Patients and Clinicians Within DystoniaNet Europe

DystoniaNet; Xarxa europea; DistoniaDytoniaNet; Red europea; DistoníaDystoniaNet; European network; DystoniaImproved care for people with dystonia presents a number of challenges. Major gaps in knowledge exist with regard to how to optimize the diagnostic process, how to leverage discoveries in pathophysiology into biomarkers, and how to develop an evidence base for current and novel treatments. These challenges are made greater by the realization of the wide spectrum of symptoms and difficulties faced by people with dystonia, which go well-beyond motor symptoms. A network of clinicians, scientists, and patients could provide resources to facilitate information exchange at different levels, share mutual experiences, and support each other's innovative projects. In the past, collaborative initiatives have been launched, including the American Dystonia Coalition, the European Cooperation in Science and Technology (COST—which however only existed for a limited time), and the Dutch DystonieNet project. The European Reference Network on Rare Neurological Diseases includes dystonia among other rare conditions affecting the central nervous system in a dedicated stream. Currently, we aim to broaden the scope of these initiatives to a comprehensive European level by further expanding the DystoniaNet network, in close collaboration with the ERN-RND. In line with the ERN-RND, the mission of DystoniaNet Europe is to improve care and quality of life for people with dystonia by, among other endeavors, facilitating access to specialized care, overcoming the disparity in education of medical professionals, and serving as a solid platform to foster international clinical and research collaborations. In this review, both professionals within the dystonia field and patients and caregivers representing Dystonia Europe highlight important unsolved issues and promising new strategies and the role that a European network can play in activating them