Trade Liberalization, Technology Diffusion, and Productivity

This study develops the international trade theory of technology diffusion with heterogeneous firms. Each new entrant randomly searches for and meets incumbents and then adopts their existing technology. As in previous international trade models based on firm heterogeneity, trade liberalization induces the least productive firms to exit, and then the resources can be reallocated toward more productive firms. However, we show that this resource reallocation effect is mitigated by the entry of low-productive firms. Trade liberalization facilitates the diffusion of existing low-productive technologies to new entrants, which shifts the weight in the productivity distribution from the upper tail area to the area around the least productivity. Thus, some resources can be reallocated toward low-productive firms. In addition, trade liberalization reduces domestically produced varieties. Consequently, we show the non-monotonic relationship between trade liberalization and aggregate productivity

Trade Liberalization, Technology Diffusion, and Productivity

This study develops the international trade theory of technology diffusion with heterogeneous firms. Each new entrant randomly searches for and meets incumbents and then adopts their existing technology. As in previous international trade models based on firm heterogeneity, trade liberalization induces the least productive firms to exit, and then the resources can be reallocated toward more productive firms. However, we show that this resource reallocation effect is mitigated by the entry of low-productive firms. Trade liberalization facilitates the diffusion of existing low-productive technologies to new entrants, which shifts the weight in the productivity distribution from the upper tail area to the area around the least productivity. Thus, some resources can be reallocated toward low-productive firms. In addition, trade liberalization reduces domestically produced varieties. Consequently, we show the non-monotonic relationship between trade liberalization and aggregate productivity

Sunlight Photocatalyzed Regioselective β‐Alkylation and Acylation of Cyclopentanones.

Visible light induced direct β-C–H/C–C conversion of cyclopentanones was accomplished by using tetrabutylammonium decatungstate, TBADT, as the photocatalyst

Glycated albumin suppresses glucose-induced insulin secretion by impairing glucose metabolism in rat pancreatic β-cells

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Glycated albumin (GA) is an Amadori product used as a marker of hyperglycemia. In this study, we investigated the effect of GA on insulin secretion from pancreatic β cells.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Islets were collected from male Wistar rats by collagenase digestion. Insulin secretion in the presence of non-glycated human albumin (HA) and GA was measured under three different glucose concentrations, 3 mM (G3), 7 mM (G7), and 15 mM (G15), with various stimulators. Insulin secretion was measured with antagonists of inducible nitric oxide synthetase (iNOS), and the expression of iNOS-mRNA was investigated by real-time PCR.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Insulin secretion in the presence of HA and GA was 20.9 ± 3.9 and 21.6 ± 5.5 μU/3 islets/h for G3 (<it>P </it>= 0.920), and 154 ± 9.3 and 126.1 ± 7.3 μU/3 islets/h (<it>P </it>= 0.046), for G15, respectively. High extracellular potassium and 10 mM tolbutamide abrogated the inhibition of insulin secretion by GA. Glyceraldehyde, dihydroxyacetone, methylpyruvate, GLP-1, and forskolin, an activator of adenylate cyclase, did not abrogate the inhibition. Real-time PCR showed that GA did not induce iNOS-mRNA expression. Furthermore, an inhibitor of nitric oxide synthetase, aminoguanidine, and NG-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester did not abrogate the inhibition of insulin secretion.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>GA suppresses glucose-induced insulin secretion from rat pancreatic β-cells through impairment of intracellular glucose metabolism.</p

Life-Course Monitoring of Endogenous Phytohormone Levels under Field Conditions Reveals Diversity of Physiological States among Barley Accessions

Agronomically important traits often develop during the later stages of crop growth as consequences of various plant–environment interactions. Therefore, the temporal physiological states that change and accumulate during the crop’s life course can significantly affect the eventual phenotypic differences in agronomic traits among crop varieties. Thus, to improve productivity, it is important to elucidate the associations between temporal physiological responses during the growth of different crop varieties and their agronomic traits. However, data representing the dynamics and diversity of physiological states in plants grown under field conditions are sparse. In this study, we quantified the endogenous levels of five phytohormones — auxin, cytokinins (CKs), ABA, jasmonate and salicylic acid — in the leaves of eight diverse barley (Hordeum vulgare) accessions grown under field conditions sampled weekly over their life course to assess the ongoing fluctuations in hormone levels in the different accessions under field growth conditions. Notably, we observed enormous changes over time in the development-related plant hormones, such as auxin and CKs. Using 3′ RNA-seq-based transcriptome data from the same samples, we investigated the expression of barley genes orthologous to known hormone-related genes of Arabidopsis throughout the life course. These data illustrated the dynamics and diversity of the physiological states of these field-grown barley accessions. Together, our findings provide new insights into plant–environment interactions, highlighting that there is cultivar diversity in physiological responses during growth under field conditions