Global imbalances revisited: The transfer problem and transport costs in monopolistic competition

We study the welfare effects of trade imbalances in a two-sector model of monopolistic competition. As in perfect competition, a trade surplus involves an income transfer to the deficit country and possibly a terms-of-trade deterioration. Unlike the conventional wisdom, however, trade imbalances do not impose any double burden on surplus countries. This is because of a production-delocation effect, which leads to a reduction in the local price index. In the presence of intermediate goods, new results arise: A trade surplus may lead to an appreciation of the exchange rate, to a terms-of-trade improvement and even to a welfare increase. Numerical simulations show that, under realistic assumptions about preferences and technology, the beneficial price-index effect can significantly reduce the direct cost of the transfer

Trade, Finance and Endogenous Firm Heterogeneity

We study how financial frictions affect firm-level heterogeneity and trade. We build a model in which productivity differences across monopolistically competitive firms are endogenous and depend on investment decisions at the entry stage. By increasing entry costs, financial frictions lower the exit cutoff and hence the value of investing in bigger projects with more dispersed outcomes. As a result, financial frictions make firms smaller and more homogeneous, and hinder the volume of exports. Export opportunities, instead, shift expected profits to the tail and increase the value of technological heterogeneity. We test these predictions using comparable measures of sales dispersion within 365 manufacturing industries in 119 countries, built from highly disaggregated US import data. Consistent with the model, financial development increases sales dispersion, especially in more financially vulnerable industries; sales dispersion is also increasing in measures of comparative advantage. These results help explaining the effect of financial development and factor endowments on export sales.We acknowledge financial support from the Barcelona GSE, the Spanish Ministry of Economy, and Competitiveness (ECO2014-55555-P and ECO2014-59805-P), and the Catalan AGAUR (2014-SGR-546)

Urinary gas chromatography mass spectrometry metabolomics in asphyxiated newborns undergoing hypothermia: from the birth to the first month of life.

BACKGROUND: Perinatal asphyxia is a severe clinical condition affecting around four million newborns worldwide. It consists of an impaired gas exchange leading to three biochemical components: hypoxemia, hypercapnia and metabolic acidosis. METHODS: The aim of this longitudinal experimental study was to identify the urine metabolome of newborns with perinatal asphyxia and to follow changes in urine metabolic profile over time. Twelve babies with perinatal asphyxia were included in this study; three babies died on the eighth day of life. Total-body cooling for 72 hours was carried out in all the newborns. Urine samples were collected in each baby at birth, after 48 hours during hypothermia, after the end of the therapeutic treatment (72 hours), after 1 week of life, and finally after 1 month of life. Urine metabolome at birth was considered the reference against which to compare metabolic profiles in subsequent samples. Quantitative metabolic profiling in urine samples was measured by gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The statistical approach was conducted by using the multivariate analysis by means of principal component analysis (PCA) and orthogonal partial least square discriminant analysis (OPLS-DA). Pathway analysis was also performed. RESULTS: The most important metabolites depicting each time collection point were identified and compared each other. At birth before starting therapeutic hypothermia (TH), urine metabolic profiles of the three babies died after 7 days of life were closely comparable each other and significantly different from those in survivors. CONCLUSIONS: In conclusion, a plethora of data have been extracted by comparing the urine metabolome at birth with those observed at each time point collection. The modifications over time in metabolites composition and concentration, mainly originated from the depletion of cellular energy and homeostasis, seems to constitute a fingerprint of perinatal asphyxia

Impact of Chronic Lung Disease on Very Low Birth Weight infants: a collaborative study of the Italian Group of Neonatal Pneumology

Objective. To evaluate the incidence and risk factors for chronic lung disease in a population of very low birth weight infants. Methods. In a prospective multicentric trial all very low birth weight infants (< 1500 g) accepted in 36 Italian Neonatal Intensive care units were studied from February 89 to January 99. For each patient were recorded maternal history, perinatal events, respiratory disease, infections, patent ductus arteriosus, retinopathy of prematurity, intraventricular haemorrhage and final outcome. Logistic regression analysis was performed in a multivariate assessment of risk factors for chronic lung disease. Results. In the study were included 1634 patients: 1387 infants survived beyond 36 weeks and 6.9% of them still oxygen dependent. The incidence of chronic lung disease was higher among babies with a gestational age of < 28 weeks and weight \ub2 1000 g. The multivariate analysis showed that low birth weight, respiratory distress syndrome, persistent ductus arteriosus and sepsis were the main risk factors. Conclusions. In our study the incidence of chronic lung disease was relatively lo

Metabolomics of Oxidative Stress in Recent Studies of Endogenous and Exogenously Administered Intermediate Metabolites

Aerobic metabolism occurs in a background of oxygen radicals and reactive oxygen species (ROS) that originate from the incomplete reduction of molecular oxygen in electron transfer reactions. The essential role of aerobic metabolism, the generation and consumption of ATP and other high energy phosphates, sustains a balance of approximately 3000 essential human metabolites that serve not only as nutrients, but also as antioxidants, neurotransmitters, osmolytes, and participants in ligand-based and other cellular signaling. In hypoxia, ischemia, and oxidative stress, where pathological circumstances cause oxygen radicals to form at a rate greater than is possible for their consumption, changes in the composition of metabolite ensembles, or metabolomes, can be associated with physiological changes. Metabolomics and metabonomics are a scientific disciplines that focuse on quantifying dynamic metabolome responses, using multivariate analytical approaches derived from methods within genomics, a discipline that consolidated innovative analysis techniques for situations where the number of biomarkers (metabolites in our case) greatly exceeds the number of subjects. This review focuses on the behavior of cytosolic, mitochondrial, and redox metabolites in ameliorating or exacerbating oxidative stress. After reviewing work regarding a small number of metabolites—pyruvate, ethyl pyruvate, and fructose-1,6-bisphosphate—whose exogenous administration was found to ameliorate oxidative stress, a subsequent section reviews basic multivariate statistical methods common in metabolomics research, and their application in human and preclinical studies emphasizing oxidative stress. Particular attention is paid to new NMR spectroscopy methods in metabolomics and metabonomics. Because complex relationships connect oxidative stress to so many physiological processes, studies from different disciplines were reviewed. All, however, shared the common goal of ultimately developing “omics”-based, diagnostic tests to help influence therapies

Early inhaled budesonide for the prevention of bronchopulmonary dysplasia

BACKGROUND Systemic glucocorticoids reduce the incidence of bronchopulmonary dysplasia among extremely preterm infants, but they may compromise brain development. The effects of inhaled glucocorticoids on outcomes in these infants are unclear. METHODS We randomly assigned 863 infants (gestational age, 23 weeks 0 days to 27 weeks 6 days) to early (within 24 hours after birth) inhaled budesonide or placebo until they no longer required oxygen and positive-pressure support or until they reached a postmenstrual age of 32 weeks 0 days. The primary outcome was death or bronchopulmonary dysplasia, confirmed by means of standardized oxygen-saturation monitoring, at a postmenstrual age of 36 weeks. RESULTS A total of 175 of 437 infants assigned to budesonide for whom adequate data were available (40.0%), as compared with 194 of 419 infants assigned to placebo for whom adequate data were available (46.3%), died or had bronchopulmonary dysplasia (relative risk, stratified according to gestational age, 0.86; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.75 to 1.00; P = 0.05). The incidence of bronchopulmonary dysplasia was 27.8% in the budesonide group versus 38.0% in the placebo group (relative risk, stratified according to gestational age, 0.74; 95% CI, 0.60 to 0.91; P = 0.004); death occurred in 16.9% and 13.6% of the patients, respectively (relative risk, stratified according to gestational age, 1.24; 95% CI, 0.91 to 1.69; P = 0.17). The proportion of infants who required surgical closure of a patent ductus arteriosus was lower in the budesonide group than in the placebo group (relative risk, stratified according to gestational age, 0.55; 95% CI, 0.36 to 0.83; P = 0.004), as was the proportion of infants who required reintubation (relative risk, stratified according to gestational age, 0.58; 95% CI, 0.35 to 0.96; P = 0.03). Rates of other neonatal illnesses and adverse events were similar in the two groups. CONCLUSIONS Among extremely preterm infants, the incidence of bronchopulmonary dysplasia was lower among those who received early inhaled budesonide than among those who received placebo, but the advantage may have been gained at the expense of increased mortality