138 research outputs found
Would global patent protection be too weak without international coordination?
I extend the Grossman and Lai (2004) model to answer the question, "Would global patent protection be too weak without international coordination?" by introducing firmbiased government preferences and trade barriers in the model. I make use of the estimates of the firm-bias parameter from the political economy literature to proxy for the degree of governments' firm-bias. Then I calculate the range of trade barriers that is sufficient to give rise to under-protection of patents in the global system without international policy coordination in IPR protection. I make the judgement that the true trade barrier between countries very likely falls within this range of under-protection. Therefore, I conclude that there was probably under-protection of patents without international policy coordination in IPR protection. It means that the free-rider problem with a large number of independent players overrides the effects of firm-bias and trade barriers, giving rise to too low a rate of innovation in the world. Allowing for the possibility that countries discriminate against foreign firms in Nash equilibrium does not change this conclusion. The problem can possibly be corrected by international coordination in intellectual property rights (IPR) protection.Intellectual property rights, TRIPS, Innovation
The most-favored nation rule in club enlargement negotiation
We study the effects of the Most-Favored Nation rule in an applicant's negotiation to join a club. When the applicant has to carry out a series of bilateral bargains with the existing members, we find that there are two effects of the MFN rule, viz. the hardened bargainer effect and the free-rider effect. The former effect tends to favor the applicant, while the latter effect tends to hurt the applicant. We find that the free-rider effect is stronger the more asymmetric are the members. The hardened bargainer effect is stronger the larger is the "size of the pie." As the number of members increase, it is more likely that the hardened bargainer effect would dominate.International trade ; Industrial organization (Economic theory) ; World Trade Organization
A Theory of Government Procrastination
We present a theory to explain government procrastination as a consequence of its present-bias resulting from the political uncertainty in a two-party political system. We show that under a two-party political system the party in office tends to be present-biased. This may lead to inefficient procrastination of socially beneficial policies that carry upfront costs but yield long-term benefits. However, procrastination is often not indefinite even as we consider an infinite-horizon game. There exist equilibria in which the policy is implemented, and in many cases carried out to completion in finite time. When the net social benefit is large, there is no procrastination problem. When the net social benefit is small, the policy can be procrastinated indefinitely, though there may co-exist some gradual implementation equilibria. When the net social benefit is intermediate in magnitude, there are all sorts of procrastination equilibria, including gradual implementation. The theory predicts that a government with a more strongly predominant party tends to procrastinate less.present-bias, procrastination, policy implementation
Hydrogen Phases on the Surface of a Strongly Magnetized Neutron Star
The outermost layers of some neutron stars are likely to be dominated by
hydrogen, as a result of fast gravitational settling of heavier elements. These
layers directly mediate thermal radiation from the stars, and determine the
characteristics of X-ray/EUV spectra. For a neutron star with surface
temperature T\lo 10^6 K and magnetic field B\go 10^{12} G, various forms of
hydrogen can be present in the envelope, including atom, poly-molecules, and
condensed metal. We study the physical properties of different hydrogen phases
on the surface of a strongly magnetized neutron star for a wide range of field
strength and surface temperature . Depending on the values of and
, the outer envelope can be either in a nondegenerate gaseous phase or in a
degenerate metallic phase. For T\go 10^5 K and moderately strong magnetic
field, B\lo 10^{13} G, the envelope is nondegenerate and the surface material
gradually transforms into a degenerate Coulomb plasma as density increases. For
higher field strength, G, there exists a first-order phase
transition from the nondegenerate gaseous phase to the condensed metallic
phase. The column density of saturated vapor above the metallic hydrogen
decreases rapidly as the magnetic field increases or/and temperature decreases.
Thus the thermal radiation can directly emerge from the degenerate metallic
hydrogen surface. The characteristics of surface X-ray/EUV emission for
different phases are discussed. A separate study concerning the possibility of
magnetic field induced nuclear fusion of hydrogen on the neutron star surface
is also presented.Comment: TeX, 35 pages including 6 postscript figures. To be published in Ap
Hydrogen Molecules In Superstrong Magnetic Field: II. Excitation Levels
We study the energy levels of H molecules in a superstrong magnetic field
(B\go 10^{12} G), typically found on the surfaces of neutron stars. The
interatomic interaction potentials are calculated by a Hartree-Fock method with
multi-configurations assuming electrons are in the ground Landau state. Both
the aligned configurations and arbitrary orientations of the molecular axis
with respect to the magnetic field axis are considered. Different types of
molecular excitations are then studied: electronic excitations, aligned (along
the magnetic axis) vibrational excitations, transverse vibrational excitations
(a constrained rotation of the molecular axis around the magnetic field line).
Similar results for the molecular ion H are also obtained and compared
with previous variational calculations. Both numerical results and analytical
fitting formulae are given for a wide range of field strengths. In contrast to
the zero-field case, it is found that the transverse vibrational excitation
energies can be larger than the aligned vibration excitation, and they both can
be comparable or larger than the electronic excitations. For B\go
B_{crit}=4.23\times 10^{13} G, the Landau energy of proton is appreciable and
there is some controversy regarding the dissociation energy of H. We show
that H is bound even for and that neither proton has a Landau
excitation in the ground molecular state.Comment: Revtex (45 pages), 3 postscript figures; Phys. Rev. A in pres
Potassium channel gene mutations rarely cause atrial fibrillation
BACKGROUND: Mutations in several potassium channel subunits have been associated with rare forms of atrial fibrillation. In order to explore the role of potassium channels in inherited typical forms of the arrhythmia, we have screened a cohort of patients from a referral clinic for mutations in the channel subunit genes implicated in the arrhythmia. We sought to determine if mutations in KCNJ2 and KCNE1-5 are a common cause of atrial fibrillation. METHODS: Serial patients with lone atrial fibrillation or atrial fibrillation with hypertension were enrolled between June 1, 2001 and January 6, 2005. Each patient underwent a standardized interview and physical examination. An electrocardiogram, echocardiogram and blood sample for genetic analysis were also obtained. Patients with a family history of AF were screened for mutations in KCNJ2 and KCNE1-5 using automated sequencing. RESULTS: 96 patients with familial atrial fibrillation were enrolled. Eighty-three patients had lone atrial fibrillation and 13 had atrial fibrillation and hypertension. Patients had a mean age of 56 years at enrollment and 46 years at onset of atrial fibrillation. Eighty-one percent of patients had paroxysmal atrial fibrillation at enrollment. Unlike patients with an activating mutation in KCNQ1, the patients had a normal QT(c )interval with a mean of 412 ± 42 ms. Echocardiography revealed a normal mean ejection fraction of 62.0 ± 7.2 % and mean left atrial dimension of 39.9 ± 7.0 mm. A number of common polymorphisms in KCNJ2 and KCNE1-5 were identified, but no mutations were detected. CONCLUSION: Mutations in KCNJ2 and KCNE1-5 rarely cause typical atrial fibrillation in a referral clinic population
Deinococcus geothermalis: The Pool of Extreme Radiation Resistance Genes Shrinks
Bacteria of the genus Deinococcus are extremely resistant to ionizing radiation (IR), ultraviolet light (UV) and desiccation. The mesophile Deinococcus radiodurans was the first member of this group whose genome was completely sequenced. Analysis of the genome sequence of D. radiodurans, however, failed to identify unique DNA repair systems. To further delineate the genes underlying the resistance phenotypes, we report the whole-genome sequence of a second Deinococcus species, the thermophile Deinococcus geothermalis, which at its optimal growth temperature is as resistant to IR, UV and desiccation as D. radiodurans, and a comparative analysis of the two Deinococcus genomes. Many D. radiodurans genes previously implicated in resistance, but for which no sensitive phenotype was observed upon disruption, are absent in D. geothermalis. In contrast, most D. radiodurans genes whose mutants displayed a radiation-sensitive phenotype in D. radiodurans are conserved in D. geothermalis. Supporting the existence of a Deinococcus radiation response regulon, a common palindromic DNA motif was identified in a conserved set of genes associated with resistance, and a dedicated transcriptional regulator was predicted. We present the case that these two species evolved essentially the same diverse set of gene families, and that the extreme stress-resistance phenotypes of the Deinococcus lineage emerged progressively by amassing cell-cleaning systems from different sources, but not by acquisition of novel DNA repair systems. Our reconstruction of the genomic evolution of the Deinococcus-Thermus phylum indicates that the corresponding set of enzymes proliferated mainly in the common ancestor of Deinococcus. Results of the comparative analysis weaken the arguments for a role of higher-order chromosome alignment structures in resistance; more clearly define and substantially revise downward the number of uncharacterized genes that might participate in DNA repair and contribute to resistance; and strengthen the case for a role in survival of systems involved in manganese and iron homeostasis
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