The determinants of intrafirm trade: Evidence from French firms

How well does the theory of the firm explain the choice between intrafirm and arms' length trade? This paper uses firm-level import data from France to look into this question. We find support for three key predictions of property-rights theories of the multinational firm. Intrafirm imports are more likely: (i) in capital- and skill-intensive firms; (ii) in highly productive firms; (iii) from countries with well-functioning judicial institutions. We further bridge previous aggregate findings with our investigation by decomposing intrafirm imports into an extensive and intensive margin. Doing so we uncover interesting patterns in the data that require further theoretical investigation.intrafirm trade; outsourcing; firm heterogeneity; incomplete contracts; internationalization strategies; quality of institutions, extensive margin, intensive margin.

Establishment of mouse and rat hepatoma cell clones showing stable expression of rabbit cytochrome P450 IA2

AbstractCytochrome P450 IA2, a liver-specific member of the 3-methylcholanthrene-inducible family, is never detected in established cell lines. With the aim of isolating cells stably producing this protein, we have used rat and mouse hepatoma cells as recipients in transfection experiments involving rabbit cytochrome P450 IA2 cDNA. We report here the isolation of five hepatoma cell clones expressing functional P450 IA2. The level of expression is comparable to that found in COS cells transiently transformed by other P450 cDNAs. It ranges between 0.4 and 1.6 pmol P450 IA2/mg total cell protein

Targeting neuroendocrine abnormalities in Parkinson’s disease with exercise

Parkinson’s Disease (PD) is a prevalent and complex age-related neurodegenerative condition for which there are no disease-modifying treatments currently available. The pathophysiological process underlying PD remains incompletely understood but increasing evidence points to multiple system dysfunction. Interestingly, the past decade has produced evidence that exercise not only reduces signs and symptoms of PD but is also potentially neuroprotective. Characterizing the mechanistic pathways that are triggered by exercise and lead to positive outcomes will improve understanding of how to counter disease progression and symptomatology. In this review, we highlight how exercise regulates the neuroendocrine system, whose primary role is to respond to stress, maintain homeostasis and improve resilience to aging. We focus on a group of hormones – cortisol, melatonin, insulin, klotho, and vitamin D – that have been shown to associate with various non-motor symptoms of PD, such as mood, cognition, and sleep/circadian rhythm disorder. These hormones may represent important biomarkers to track in clinical trials evaluating effects of exercise in PD with the aim of providing evidence that patients can exert some behavioral-induced control over their disease

Cross-taxon congruence between predatory arthropods and plants across Mediterranean agricultural landscapes

Although arthropods are among the most diverse, abundant and ecologically important animals in terrestrial ecosystems, they are generally neglected in most biodiversity inventories due to their complex systematics and overwhelming diversity, coupled with the current decline in the number of taxonomists. For this reason, several surrogate groups for arthropod diversity have been proposed, with plants being identified as a good putative cross-taxon indicator. By sampling plants and three groups of ground-dwelling arthropods (rove beetles, ground beetles and spiders) in 300 sites across 15 landscapes including multiple semi-natural and agricultural habitats, we tested for habitat-dependence and scale-dependence in the cross-taxon congruence. Plant species richness was a poor predictor of the species richness of predatory arthropods. Among the predator groups, ground beetles appeared as the best potential surrogate for the other ground-dwelling predators. This is backed by the fact that ground beetles were extremely diverse and abundant in all habitats and are usually easier to identify than both rove beetles and spiders. Decreasing the scale at which the cross-taxon congruence was tested improved the strength of the cross-taxon congruence. Although plant species richness was not a suitable indicator for the diversity of predatory arthropods, vegetation structure played a significant role in influencing cross-taxon congruence in both natural and agricultural habitats. Our results highlight the need to explore the cross-taxon relationships at a fine habitat resolution scale, as strong correlations were obtained only by taking into account habitat identity

Uncooled and passive 0.5-1.5 THz FPA imager: Design and characterization of focal plane array imager based on antenna-coupled MOSFET bolometers

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Perceptual and acoustic correlates of DBS of subthalamic nucleus versus globus pallidus interna for IPD : a comparative pilot study

Purpose: This study compared bilateral deep brain stimulation (DBS) in subthalamic nucleus (STN) versus globus pallidus interna (GPI) on perceived Speech Severity in Parkinson’s disease. Methods: 12 individuals with STN-DBS and 8 individuals with GPI-DBS were audio-recorded with DBS ON and OFF while reading an excerpt from the Rainbow Passage and producing a conversational monologue. Using a within-speaker, paired comparison paradigm, 10 listeners judged Speech Severity for pairs of stimulation ON-OFF (and OFF-ON) reading passages and monologues masked to stimulation status and speaker group. The proportion of trials for which ON versus OFF stimuli in a given pair was judged to be less severe was calculated. Results: There was a task effect, with significant results for Rainbow Passage but not conversational monologue. Perceived Speech Severity differed with stimulation status for GPI-DBS but not STN-DBS, with a greater proportion of ON stimulation speech samples judged to be less severe versus OFF samples. At the participant level, response to ON/OFF stimulation was highly variable in STN-DBS group. Discussion: DBS stimulation differentially impacts perceived speech severity for STN-DBS and GPI-DBS. Results further suggest the perceptual benefit of DBS stimulation may be task specific

Wideband planar skirt antenna and its application for the detection of terahertz radiation

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