Vection-induced gastric dysrhythmias and motion sickness

Gastric electrical and mechanical activity during vection-induced motion sickness was investigated. The contractile events of the antrum and gastric myoelectric activity in healthy subjects exposed to vection were measured simultaneously. Symptomatic and myoelectric responses of subjects with vagotomy and gastric resections during vection stimuli were determined. And laboratory based computer systems for analysis of the myoelectric signal were developed. Gastric myoelectric activity was recorded from cutaneous electrodes, i.e., electrogastrograms (EGGs), and antral contractions were measured with intraluminal pressure transducers. Vection was induced by a rotating drum. gastric electromechanical activity was recorded during three periods: 15 min baseline, 15 min drum rotation (vection), and 15 to 30 min recovery. Preliminary results showed that catecholamine responses in nauseated versus symptom-free subjects were divergent and pretreatment with metoclopramide HC1 (Reglan) prevented vection-induced nausea and reduced tachygastrias in two previously symptomatic subjects

The Chern-Simons Source as a Conformal Family and Its Vertex Operators

In a previous work, a straightforward canonical approach to the source-free quantum Chern-Simons dynamics was developed. It makes use of neither gauge conditions nor functional integrals and needs only ideas known from QCD and quantum gravity. It gives Witten's conformal edge states in a simple way when the spatial slice is a disc. Here we extend the formalism by including sources as well. The quantum states of a source with a fixed spatial location are shown to be those of a conformal family, a result also discovered first by Witten. The internal states of a source are not thus associated with just a single ray of a Hilbert space. Vertex operators for both abelian and nonabelian sources are constructed. The regularized abelian Wilson line is proved to be a vertex operator. We also argue in favor of a similar nonabelian result. The spin-statistics theorem is established for Chern-Simons dynamics even though the sources are not described by relativistic quantum fields. The proof employs geometrical methods which we find are strikingly transparent and pleasing. It is based on the research of European physicists about ``fields localized on cones.'

Computational Analysis of the U.S FTAs with Central America, Australia, And Morocco

We use the Michigan Model of World Production and Trade to assess the economic effects of the U.S. bilateral FTAs negotiated with Central America, Australia, and Morocco. The model covers 18 economic sectors in each of 22 countries/regions and is based on Version 5.4 of the GTAP database for 1997 together with specially constructed estimates of services barriers and other data on sectoral employment and numbers of firms. The distinguishing feature of the model is that it incorporates monopolistic competition in the manufacturing and services sectors, including increasing returns and product variety. The modeling focus is on the effects of the bilateral removal of tariffs on agriculture and manufactures and services barriers. Rules of origin and other restrictive measures and the non-trade aspects of the FTAs are not taken into account due to data constraints. The computational results indicate that the benefits of bilateral FTAs for the United States and partner countries are rather small in both absolute and relative terms, and that far greater benefits could be realized if the United States and its FTA partners adopted unilateral free trade and especially if multilateral free trade was adopted by all countries/regions in the global trading system.Free Trade Agreements, Unilateral Liberalization, Multilateral Liberalization

Computational Analysis of the Menu of U.S.-Japan Trade Policies

We have used the Michigan Computable General Equilibrium (CGE) Model of World Production and Trade to calculate the aggregate welfare and sectoral employment effects of the menu of U.S.-Japan trade policies. The menu of policies encompasses the various preferential U.S. and Japan bilateral and regional free trade agreements (FTAs) negotiated and in process, unilateral removal of existing trade barriers by the two countries, and global (multilateral) free trade. The U.S. preferential agreements include the FTAs approved by the U.S. Congress with Chile and Singapore in 2003, those signed with Central America, Australia, and Morocco and awaiting Congressional approval in 2004, and prospective FTAs with the Southern African Customs Union (SACU), Thailand, and the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA). The Japanese preferential agreements include the bilateral FTA with Singapore signed in 2002 and prospective FTAs with Chile, Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, Philippines, and Thailand. The welfare impacts of the FTAs on the United States and Japan are shown to be rather small in absolute and relative terms. The sectoral employment effects are also generally small in the United States and Japan, but vary across the individual sectors depending on the patterns of the bilateral liberalization. The welfare effects on the FTA partner countries are mostly positive though generally small, but there are some indications of potentially disruptive employment shifts in some partner countries. There are indications of trade diversion and detrimental welfare effects on nonmember countries for some of the FTAs analyzed. Data limitations precluded analysis of the welfare effects of the different FTA rules of origin and other discriminatory arrangements. In comparison to the welfare gains from the U.S. and Japan bilateral FTAs, the gains from both unilateral trade liberalization by the United States, Japan, and the FTA partners, and from global (multilateral) free trade are shown to be rather substantial and more uniformly positive for all countries in the global trading system. The U.S. and Japan FTAs are based on "hub" and "spoke" arrangements. We show that the spokes emanate out in different and often overlapping directions, suggesting that the complex of bilateral FTAs may create distortions of the global trading system.

Computational Analysis of the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA)

We use the Michigan Model of World Production and Trade to assess the economic effects of the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) that is currently being negotiated among the 34 countries in the region. The model covers 18 economic sectors in each of 22 countries/regions and is based on Version 5.4 of the GTAP database for 1997 together with specially constructed estimates of services barriers and other data on sectoral employment and numbers of firms. The distinguishing feature of the model is that it incorporates some aspects of trade with imperfect competition in the manufacturing and services sectors, including monopolistic competition, increasing returns, and product variety. The modeling focus is on the effects of the bilateral removal of tariffs on agriculture and manufactures and services barriers. Rules of origin and other restrictive measures and the non-trade aspects of the FTAA are not taken into account due to data constraints. The computational results indicate that the FTAA would increase the economic welfare of the FTAA member countries by $118.8 billion, with the largest increases accruing to the United States,$67.6 billion, and to South America, $31.0 billion. The FTAA is trade diverting for most of the rest-of-world, with a welfare reduction of$9.3 billion. In comparison, if the FTAA countries were to adopt unilateral free trade, total FTAA member welfare would increase by $476.8 billion and global welfare by$812.7 billion. If multilateral free trade were adopted by all countries/regions in the global trading system, the welfare effects would be considerably larger, $751.2 billion for the FTAA members and$2.7 trillion globally.Trade liberalization, Globalization