DOES INDUSTRIAL CONCENTRATION RAISE PRODUCTIVITY IN FOOD INDUSTRIES?

This manuscript investigates the productivity-industrial concentration relationship in U.S. food industries. We identify a critical level of industrial concentration beyond which its relationship with productivity growth becomes negative. The welfare effects of an increase in concentration - productivity growth and deadweight loss- are computed. Welfare loss from increasing concentration is substantially offset by gains from productivity growth.Industrial Organization, Productivity Analysis,

Hidden cycle of dissolved organic carbon in the deep ocean

Marine dissolved organic carbon (DOC) is a large (660 Pg C) reactive carbon reservoir that mediates the oceanic microbial food web and interacts with climate on both short and long timescales. Carbon isotopic content provides information on the DOC source via δ[superscript 13]C and age via Δ[superscript 14]C. Bulk isotope measurements suggest a microbially sourced DOC reservoir with two distinct components of differing radiocarbon age. However, such measurements cannot determine internal dynamics and fluxes. Here we analyze serial oxidation experiments to quantify the isotopic diversity of DOC at an oligotrophic site in the central Pacific Ocean. Our results show diversity in both stable and radio isotopes at all depths, confirming DOC cycling hidden within bulk analyses. We confirm the presence of isotopically enriched, modern DOC cocycling with an isotopically depleted older fraction in the upper ocean. However, our results show that up to 30% of the deep DOC reservoir is modern and supported by a 1 Pg/y carbon flux, which is 10 times higher than inferred from bulk isotope measurements. Isotopically depleted material turns over at an apparent time scale of 30,000 y, which is far slower than indicated by bulk isotope measurements. These results are consistent with global DOC measurements and explain both the fluctuations in deep DOC concentration and the anomalous radiocarbon values of DOC in the Southern Ocean. Collectively these results provide an unprecedented view of the ways in which DOC moves through the marine carbon cycle.National Science Foundation (U.S.) (Grant OCE-0930866)National Science Foundation (U.S.) (Grant OCE-0930551

Interference effects in the H(→ γγ) + 2 jets channel at the LHC

We compute the interference between the resonant process pp → H(→ γγ) + 2 jets and the corresponding continuum background at leading order in QCD. For the Higgs signal, we include gluon fusion (GF) and vector boson fusion (VBF) production channels, while for the background we consider all tree-level contributions, including pure EW effects (O(α 4 QED)) and QCD contributions (O(α 2 QEDα 2 s )), plus the loopinduced gluon-initiated process. After convolution with the experimental mass resolution, the main effect of the interference is to shift the position of the mass peak, as in the inclusive GF case studied previously. The apparent mass shift is small in magnitude but strongly dependent on the Higgs width, potentially allowing for a measurement of, or bound on, the width itself. In the H(→ γγ) + 2 jets channel, the VBF and GF contributions generate shifts of opposite signs which largely cancel, depending on the sets of cuts used, to as little as 5 MeV (toward a lower Higgs mass). The small magnitude of the shift makes this channel a good reference mass for measuring the inclusive mass shift of around 60 MeV in the Standard Model.Fil: Coradeschi, F.. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Física; Argentina. Università degli Studi di Firenze; ItaliaFil: de Florian, Daniel Enrique. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Instituto de Física de Buenos Aires. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Física de Buenos Aires; ArgentinaFil: Dixon, L. J.. University of Stanford; Estados Unidos. Walter Burke Institute for Theoretical Physics; Estados UnidosFil: Fidanza Romani, Nerina Andrea. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Física; ArgentinaFil: Höche, S.. University of Stanford; Estados UnidosFil: Ita, H.. Albert Ludwigs Universität Freiburg; AlemaniaFil: Li, Y.. University of Stanford; Estados UnidosFil: Mazzitelli, Javier Sebastián. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Física; Argentin

Natural Populations of Woodchuck Hepatitis Virus Contain Variant Precore and Core Sequences Including a Premature Stop Codon in the Epsilon Motif

We have determined a consensus sequence and the type and the frequency of spontaneous sequence variations in the woodchuck hepatitis virus (WHV) precore gene and the 5' region of the core gene in 101 serum samples from 53 naturally WHV-infected woodchucks by polymerase chain reaction sequencing. Twenty of the 53 woodchucks were found to have variant sequences. Ten patterns of variant sequences were identified in these 20 animals. WHV sequences from 4 woodchucks had 1 nucleotide change, 3 had 2 nucleotide changes and 3 had 3 nucleotide changes. The nucleotide changes were not randomly distributed, but were limited to only 8 sites. Four sites were in the epsilon motif of the precore gene and four were in the 5' region of the core gene. Sixteen of the 53 (30%) woodchucks had precore sequence variants. All altered sites were analogous to previously described mutations in hepatitis B virus. There was a nucleotide change at nucleotide 2016 in codon 29 of the precore region that produced a stop codon in 4 animals. This site is analogous to a common hepatitis B virus e antigen mutation. The sequence from the initial blood samples from 3 of 4 animals with this stop codon producing variant appeared to be the consensus sequence; however, in later samples the variant occurred as a mixed infection with the consensus sequence. The mixed infections were chronic and the proportion of the variant sequence was maintained or increased in the course of infection. In the fourth animal only the variant was found and it persisted for over 14 months of infection. WHV appears to be a valuable model for the study of the structure and function of the hepadnavirus precore region