Distortions to Agricultural Incentives in China and Southeast Asia

Distorted incentives, agricultural and trade policy reforms, national agricultural development, Agricultural and Food Policy, International Relations/Trade, F13, F14, Q17, Q18,

The ground state and the long-time evolution in the CMC Einstein flow

Let (g,K)(k) be a CMC (vacuum) Einstein flow over a compact three-manifold M with non-positive Yamabe invariant (Y(M)). As noted by Fischer and Moncrief, the reduced volume V(k)=(-k/3)^{3}Vol_{g(k)}(M) is monotonically decreasing in the expanding direction and bounded below by V_{\inf}=(-1/6)Y(M))^{3/2}. Inspired by this fact we define the ground state of the manifold M as "the limit" of any sequence of CMC states {(g_{i},K_{i})} satisfying: i. k_{i}=-3, ii. V_{i} --> V_{inf}, iii. Q_{0}((g_{i},K_{i}))< L where Q_{0} is the Bel-Robinson energy and L is any arbitrary positive constant. We prove that (as a geometric state) the ground state is equivalent to the Thurston geometrization of M. Ground states classify naturally into three types. We provide examples for each class, including a new ground state (the Double Cusp) that we analyze in detail. Finally consider a long time and cosmologically normalized flow (\g,\K)(s)=((-k/3)^{2}g,(-k/3))K) where s=-ln(-k) is in [a,\infty). We prove that if E_{1}=E_{1}((\g,\K))< L (where E_{1}=Q_{0}+Q_{1}, is the sum of the zero and first order Bel-Robinson energies) the flow (\g,\K)(s) persistently geometrizes the three-manifold M and the geometrization is the ground state if V --> V_{inf}.Comment: 40 pages. This article is an improved version of the second part of the First Version of arXiv:0705.307

Distortions to Agricultural Incentives in Asia

Distorted incentives, agricultural and trade policy reforms, national agricultural development, Agricultural and Food Policy, International Relations/Trade, F13, F14, Q17, Q18,

Agricultural Trade Reform Under the Doha Agenda: Ready for Takeoff?

A successful agreement on agriculture is critical for an overall agreement under the Doha negotiations. But before the final agreement is known, some critical decisions must be made about issues such as resumption of the negotiations, and the key tradeoffs to be made following resumption. We consider four of the most controversial areas of the agricultural negotiations: the relative importance of domestic support, market access and export subsidies; the sensitive-product exceptions sought for all countries; the additional special product exceptions sought for developing countries; and the proposed special safeguard mechanism. We show that the decisions made on reform in these areas will have a critical influence on whether the negotiations achieve their objectives of promoting trade reform and reducing poverty. In the end, we are cautiously optimistic about the potential for the negotiations to deliver a substantial outcome.International Relations/Trade,

A Mission to Test the Pioneer Anomaly

Analysis of the radio tracking data from the Pioneer 10/11 spacecraft has consistently indicated the presence of an anomalous small Doppler frequency drift. The drift can be interpreted as being due to a constant acceleration of a_P= (8.74 +/- 1.33) x 10^{-8} cm/s^2 directed towards the Sun. Although it is suspected that there is a systematic origin to the effect, none has been found. The nature of this anomaly has become of growing interest in the fields of relativistic cosmology, astro- and gravitational physics as well as in the areas of spacecraft design and high-precision navigation. We present a concept for a designated deep-space mission to test the discovered anomaly. A number of critical requirements and design considerations for such a mission are outlined and addressed.Comment: Final changes for publication. Honorable Mention, 2002 Gravity Research Foundation Essay

The Relative Importance of Global Agricultural Subsidies and Market Access

The claim by global trade modelers that the potential contribution to global economic welfare of removing agricultural subsidies is less than one-tenth of that from removing agricultural tariffs puzzles many observers. To help explain that result, this paper first compares the OECD and model-based estimates of the extent of the producer distortions (leaving aside consumer distortions), and shows that 75 percent of total support is provided by market access barriers when account is taken of all forms of support to farmers and to agricultural processors globally, and only 19 percent to domestic farm subsidies. We then provide a back-of-the-envelope (BOTE) calculation of the welfare cost of those distortions. Assuming unitary supply and demand elasticities, that BOTE analysis suggests 86 percent of the welfare cost is due to tariffs and only 6 percent to domestic farm subsidies. When the higher costs associated with the greater variability of trade measures relative to domestic support are accounted for, the BOTE estimate of the latter's share falls to 4 percent. This is close to the 5 percent generated by the most commonly used global model (GTAP) and reported in the paper's final section.International Relations/Trade,

Long Run Implications of WTO Accession for Agriculture in China

International Relations/Trade,

Effects of GATT/WTO on Asia's Trade Performance

Our review of the literature suggests that the effects of GATT/WTO are insignificant or relatively small for participants in general, but potentially very large for groups that make heavy use of it. Our empirical analysis suggests that these gains are disproportionately large for the Asia-Pacific countries—perhaps by reducing resistance to the rapid growth and change in trade patterns in the region. We also highlight a potentially important source of future gains through helping to restrain the costly growth of agricultural protection in rapidly-developing countries in the region.Asian trade growth, GATT commitments, WTO accession

Comparative Analysis of the Major Polypeptides from Liver Gap Junctions and Lens Fiber Junctions

Gap junctions from rat liver and fiber junctions from bovine lens have similar septilaminar profiles when examined by thin-section electron microscopy and differ only slightly with respect to the packing of intramembrane particles in freeze-fracture images. These similarities have often led to lens fiber junctions being referred to as gap junctions. Junctions from both sources were isolated as enriched subcellular fractions and their major polypeptide components compared biochemically and immunochemically. The major liver gap junction polypeptide has an apparent molecular weight of 27,000, while a 25,000-dalton polypeptide is the major component of lens fiber junctions. The two polypeptides are not homologous when compared by partial peptide mapping in SDS. In addition, there is not detectable antigenic similarity between the two polypeptides by immunochemical criteria using antibodies to the 25,000-dalton lens fiber junction polypeptide. Thus, in spite of the ultrastructural similarities, the gap junction and the lens fiber junction are comprised of distinctly different polypeptides, suggesting that the lens fiber junction contains a unique gene product and potentially different physiological properties

Search for a Standard Explanation of the Pioneer Anomaly

The data from Pioneer 10 and 11 shows an anomalous, constant, Doppler frequency drift that can be interpreted as an acceleration directed towards the Sun of a_P = (8.74 \pm 1.33) x 10^{-8} cm/s^2. Although one can consider a new physical origin for the anomaly, one first must investigate the contributions of the prime candidates, which are systematics generated on board. Here we expand upon previous analyses of thermal systematics. We demonstrate that thermal models put forth so far are not supported by the analyzed data. Possible ways to further investigate the nature of the anomaly are proposed.Comment: Changes made for publicatio