The Economics of Collective Brands

We consider the consequences of a shared brand name such as geographical names used to identify high quality products, for the incentives of otherwise autonomous firms to invest in quality. We contend that such collective brand labels improve communication between sellers and consumers, when the scale of production is too small for individual firms to establish reputations on a stand alone basis. This has two opposing effects on member firms’ incentives to invest in quality. On the one hand, it increases investment incentives by increasing the visibility and transparency of individual member firms, which increases the return from investment in quality. On the other hand, it creates an incentive to free ride on the group’s reputation, which can lead to less investment in quality. We identify parmater values under which collective branding delivers higher quality than is achievable by stand alone firms.

Saul, Benjamin e o surgimento do “Israel bíblico”: uma visão alternativa

O artigo discute a recente proposta de Na'aman no periódico ZAW de que a terra de Benjamin era parte de Judah durante a monarquia e tempos antigos. Concordo com Na'aman de que nos tempos da monarquia tardia a terra de Benjamin realmente pertenceu a Judah. Mas contesto, dizendo que nos séculos anteriores a região teria sido dominada por uma unidade política norte israelita. Sugiro que este território trocou a pertença ao menos uma vez - de norte ao sul - na segunda metade do século 9º AEC. Contra o pano de fundo do artigo também discuto a hipótese de Na'aman concernente ao surgimento do "Israel bíblico"

Ancient Urban Ecology Reconstructed from Archaeozoological Remains of Small Mammals in the Near East

Acknowledgments We especially thank the many archaeologists who collaborated closely with our project and invested pioneering efforts in intensive fine-scale retrieval of the archaeozoological samples that provided the basis for this study: Shai Bar, Amnon Ben-Tor, Amit Dagan, Yosef Garfinkel, Ayelet Gilboa, Zvi Greenhut, Amihai Mazar, Stefan Munger, Ronny Reich, Itzhaq Shai, Ilan Sharon, Joe Uziel, Sharon Zuckerman, and additional key excavation personnel who were instrumental in collection of the samples or in assisting the work including: Shimrit Bechar, Jacob Dunn, Norma Franklin, Egon Lass and Yiftah Shalev. Funding:The research was funded by a post-doctoral grant awarded to L.W. from the European Research Council under the European Community’s Seventh Framework Program (FP7/2007e2013)/ERC grant agreement number 229418. The laboratory work was also supported by funding by the Israel Science Foundation (Grant 52/10). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

La historia del Antiguo Israel: la arqueología y el registro bíblico - la perspectiva en 2015

In this study on the relationship between archaeology and the biblical text, the author explains a sort of “via media” which allows the reconstruction of the history of Ancient Israel without adhering to either maximalism or minimalism. He combines modern archaeological techniques with theories that come from the Annales school for the study of history in order to deal with issues such as chronology of Iron Age sites, early scribal activity in the Hebrew Kingdoms, history of compilation of ‘historical’ texts, transmission of oral traditions and written texts etc. The author deals with themes related to seven centuries, starting with the days of Jeroboam II in Israel, continuing in late monarchic Judah and ending in Hasmonean times. En este estudio sobre la relación entre la arqueología y el texto bíblioco, el autor propone una “via media” que permita la reconstrucción de la historia del Antiguo Israel sin adherir ni al maximalismo ni al minimalismo. Se combinan modernas técnicas arqueológicas con teorías provenientes de la escuela de los Annales para el estudio de la historia, a fines de abordar aspectos tales como la cronología de los sitios de la Edad del Hierro, la temprana actividad escribal en los reinos hebreos, la historia de la compilación de los textos históricos, la transmisión de las tradiciones orales y los textos escritos, etc. El autor aborda temas correspondientes a siete siglos, comenzando con el reino de Jeroboam en Israel, continuando con la monarquía tardía en Judá y concluyendo en los tiempos hasmoneos.

Einstein-Rosen "Bridge" Needs Lightlike Brane Source

The Einstein-Rosen "bridge" wormhole solution proposed in the classic paper [1] does not satisfy the vacuum Einstein equations at the wormhole throat. We show that the fully consistent formulation of the original Einstein-Rosen "bridge" requires solving Einstein equations of bulk D=4 gravity coupled to a lightlike brane with a well-defined world-volume action. The non-vanishing contribution of Einstein-Rosen "bridge" solution to the right hand side of Einstein equations at the throat matches precisely the surface stress-energy tensor of the lightlike brane which automatically occupies the throat ("horizon straddling") - a feature triggered by the world-volume lightlike brane dynamics.Comment: 16 pages, added explicit expressions for pressure and energy density of the lightlike brane as well as a new paragraph in the conclusions, version to appear in Physics Letters

Frateuria defendens reduces yellows disease symptoms in grapevine under field conditions

Yellows diseases in grapevine, associated with the presence of different phytoplasmas, are a major problem for growers, with no environmentally friendly means of control. Frateuria defendens (Frd), a bacterium with endophytic traits, has been shown to reduce yellows symptoms in grapevine plantlets under laboratory conditions. The objective of this study was to test whether similar effects could be achieved under field conditions. A trial was conducted in a heavily infected vineyard in northern Israel for two consecutive years. A suspension of Frd cells (108·mL-1) was applied bi-weekly by foliar spray on grapevines from bud burst to leaf senescence. Frd penetrated the leaves during the growing period but not during leaf senescence and could be detected in the leaves by PCR analysis up to 14 days post-spraying. The rate of yellows infection was lower in the treated grapevines compared to its increase in untreated grapevines and the yield of symptomatic plants was improved by 10 to 20 %. Taken together, the results suggest Frd acted as a biological control agent in vineyards under the experimental conditions tested

Eastern Mediterranean Mobility in the Bronze and Early Iron Ages: Inferences from Ancient DNA of Pigs and Cattle

The Late Bronze of the Eastern Mediterranean (1550-1150 BCE) was a period of strong commercial relations and great prosperity, which ended in collapse and migration of groups to the Levant. Here we aim at studying the translocation of cattle and pigs during this period. We sequenced the first ancient mitochondrial and Y chromosome DNA of cattle from Greece and Israel and compared the results with morphometric analysis of the metacarpal in cattle. We also increased previous ancient pig DNA datasets from Israel and extracted the first mitochondrial DNA for samples from Greece. We found that pigs underwent a complex translocation history, with links between Anatolia with southeastern Europe in the Bronze Age, and movement from southeastern Europe to the Levant in the Iron I (ca. 1150-950 BCE). Our genetic data did not indicate movement of cattle between the Aegean region and the southern Levant. We detected the earliest evidence for crossbreeding between taurine and zebu cattle in the Iron IIA (ca. 900 BCE). In light of archaeological and historical evidence on Egyptian imperial domination in the region in the Late Bronze Age, we suggest that Egypt attempted to expand dry farming in the region in a period of severe droughts

Exotic foods reveal contact between South Asia and the Near East during the second millennium BCE

Aunque el papel clave del comercio a larga distancia en la transformación de las cocinas en todo el mundo está bien documentado desde al menos la época romana, la prehistoria del comercio de alimentos euroasiático es menos visible. Con el fin de arrojar luz sobre la transformación de las cocinas del Mediterráneo oriental durante la Edad del Bronce y la Edad del Hierro Temprana, analizamos los microrestos y las proteínas conservadas en el cálculo dental de individuos que vivieron durante el segundo milenio a. Nuestros resultados proporcionan evidencia clara del consumo de alimentos básicos esperados, como cereales (Triticeae), sésamo ( Sesamum ) y dátiles ( Phoenix ). Además, informamos evidencia del consumo de soja ( glicina ), probable banano ( Musa ) y cúrcuma (Curcuma ), que hace retroceder la evidencia más antigua de estos alimentos en el Mediterráneo por siglos (cúrcuma) o incluso milenios (soja). Descubrimos que, desde principios del segundo milenio en adelante, al menos algunas personas en el Mediterráneo oriental tuvieron acceso a alimentos de lugares distantes, incluido el sur de Asia, y esos productos probablemente se consumieron en forma de aceites, frutos secos y especias. Estos conocimientos nos obligan a repensar la complejidad y la intensidad del comercio indo-mediterráneo durante la Edad del Bronce, así como el grado de globalización en la cocina del Mediterráneo oriental temprano. Although the key role of long-distance trade in the transformation of cuisines worldwide has been well-documented since at least the Roman era, the prehistory of the Eurasian food trade is less visible. In order to shed light on the transformation of Eastern Mediterranean cuisines during the Bronze Age and Early Iron Age, we analyzed microremains and proteins preserved in the dental calculus of individuals who lived during the second millennium BCE in the Southern Levant. Our results provide clear evidence for the consumption of expected staple foods, such as cereals (Triticeae), sesame (Sesamum), and dates (Phoenix). We additionally report evidence for the consumption of soybean (Glycine), probable banana (Musa), and turmeric (Curcuma), which pushes back the earliest evidence of these foods in the Mediterranean by centuries (turmeric) or even millennia (soybean). We find that, from the early second millennium onwards, at least some people in the Eastern Mediterranean had access to food from distant locations, including South Asia, and such goods were likely consumed as oils, dried fruits, and spices. These insights force us to rethink the complexity and intensity of Indo-Mediterranean trade during the Bronze Age as well as the degree of globalization in early Eastern Mediterranean cuisine

The Interstellar Medium In Galaxies Seen A Billion Years After The Big Bang

Evolution in the measured rest frame ultraviolet spectral slope and ultraviolet to optical flux ratios indicate a rapid evolution in the dust obscuration of galaxies during the first 3 billion years of cosmic time (z>4). This evolution implies a change in the average interstellar medium properties, but the measurements are systematically uncertain due to untested assumptions, and the inability to measure heavily obscured regions of the galaxies. Previous attempts to directly measure the interstellar medium in normal galaxies at these redshifts have failed for a number of reasons with one notable exception. Here we report measurements of the [CII] gas and dust emission in 9 typical (~1-4L*) star-forming galaxies ~1 billon years after the big bang (z~5-6). We find these galaxies have >12x less thermal emission compared with similar systems ~2 billion years later, and enhanced [CII] emission relative to the far-infrared continuum, confirming a strong evolution in the interstellar medium properties in the early universe. The gas is distributed over scales of 1-8 kpc, and shows diverse dynamics within the sample. These results are consistent with early galaxies having significantly less dust than typical galaxies seen at z<3 and being comparable to local low-metallicity systems.Comment: Submitted to Nature, under review after referee report. 22 pages, 4 figures, 4 Extended Data Figures, 5 Extended Data table

Childhood asthma exacerbations and the Arg16 b2-receptor polymorphism: a meta-analysis stratified by treatment

Background: The Gly-to-Arg substitution at the 16 position (rs1042713) in the b2-adrenoceptor gene (ADRB2) is associated with enhanced downregulation and uncoupling of b2-receptors. Objectives: We sought to undertake a meta-analysis to test the hypothesis that there is an interaction between the A allele of rs1042713 (Arg16 amino acid) and long-acting b-agonist (LABA) exposure for asthma exacerbations in children. Methods: Children with diagnosed asthma were recruited in 5 populations (BREATHE, Genes-Environments and Admixture in Latino Americans II, PACMAN, the Paediatric Asthma Gene Environment Study, and the Pharmacogenetics of Adrenal Suppression with Inhaled Steroid Study). A history of recent exacerbation and asthma treatment was determined from questionnaire data. DNA was extracted, and the Gly16Arg genotype was determined. Results: Data from 4226 children of white Northern European and Latino origin were analyzed, and the odds ratio for exacerbation increased by 1.52 (95% CI, 1.17-1.99; P 5 .0021) for each copy of the A allele among the 637 children treated with inhaled corticosteroids (ICSs) plus LABAs but not for treatment with ICSs alone (n 5 1758) or ICSs plus leukotriene receptor antagonist (LTRAs; n 5 354) or ICSs plus LABAs plus LTRAs (n 5 569). Conclusions: The use of a LABA but not an LTRA as an ‘‘addon controller’’ is associated with increased risk of asthma exacerbation in children carrying 1 or 2 A alleles at rs1042713. Prospective genotype-stratified clinical trials are now required to explore the potential role of rs1042713 genotyping for personalized asthma therapy in children. (J Allergy Clin Immunol 201