1,091 research outputs found
Assessing the potential benefit of trade facilitation : A global perspective
The relationships between trade facilitation, trade flows, and capacity building are complex and challenging to assess, both empirically and in implementation. The authors measure and estimate the relationship between trade facilitation and trade flows across 75 countries in global trade, considering four important categories: port efficiency, customs environment, regulatory environment, and service sector infrastructure. A gravity model is employed that accounts for bilateral trade flows in manufactured goods in 2000-01 between the 75 countries, using traditional factors such as GDP, distance, language, and trade areas, and is augmented by the trade facilitation measures in the four categories for each country. The results suggest that both imports and exports for a country and for the world will increase with improvements in these trade facilitation measures. Potential gains from trade facilitation reforms are predicted by using the estimated parameters. The gains from trade facilitation are presented by comparing the gains across geographical regions and trade facilitation categories, and by domestic and partner improvements. The total gain in trade flow in manufacturing goods from trade facilitation improvements in all the four areas is estimated to be $377 billion. All regions gain in imports and exports. Most regions gain more in terms of exports than imports, in large part through increasing exports to the OECD market. The most important ingredient in getting these gains, particularly to the OECD market, is the country's own trade facilitation efforts. The detailed presentation of the results of the analysis may help inform policy decisions and capacity building choices.Transport and Trade Logistics,Trade Policy,Economic Theory&Research,Common Carriers Industry,Environmental Economics&Policies,TF054105-DONOR FUNDED OPERATION ADMINISTRATION FEE INCOME AND EXPENSE ACCOUNT,Common Carriers Industry,Transport and Trade Logistics,Trade Policy,Environmental Economics&Policies
An order parameter equation for the dynamic yield stress in dense colloidal suspensions
We study the dynamic yield stress in dense colloidal suspensions by analyzing
the time evolution of the pair distribution function for colloidal particles
interacting through a Lennard-Jones potential. We find that the equilibrium
pair distribution function is unstable with respect to a certain anisotropic
perturbation in the regime of low temperature and high density. By applying a
bifurcation analysis to a system near the critical state at which the stability
changes, we derive an amplitude equation for the critical mode. This equation
is analogous to order parameter equations used to describe phase transitions.
It is found that this amplitude equation describes the appearance of the
dynamic yield stress, and it gives a value of 2/3 for the shear thinning
exponent. This value is related to the mean field value of the critical
exponent in the Ising model.Comment: 8 pages, 2 figure
Electronic Orders Induced by Kondo Effect in Non-Kramers f-Electron Systems
This paper clarifies the microscopic nature of the staggered scalar order,
which is specific to even number of f electrons per site. In such systems,
crystalline electric field (CEF) can make a singlet ground state. As exchange
interaction with conduction electrons increases, the CEF singlet at each site
gives way to Kondo singlets. The collective Kondo singlets are identified with
itinerant states that form energy bands. Near the boundary of itinerant and
localized states, a new type of electronic order appears with staggered Kondo
and CEF singlets. We present a phenomenological three-state model that
qualitatively reproduces the characteristic phase diagram, which have been
obtained numerically with use of the continuous-time quantum Monte Carlo
combined with the dynamical mean-field theory. The scalar order observed in
PrFe_4P_{12} is ascribed to this staggered order accompanying charge density
wave (CDW) of conduction electrons. Accurate photoemission and tunneling
spectroscopy should be able to probe sharp peaks below and above the Fermi
level in the ordered phase.Comment: 7 pages, 8 figure
Non-linear rheology of layered systems - a phase model approach
We study non-linear rheology of a simple theoretical model developed to mimic
layered systems such as lamellar structures under shear. In the present work we
study a 2-dimensional version of the model which exhibits a Kosterlitz-Thouless
transition in equilibrium at a critical temperature Tc. While the system
behaves as Newtonain fluid at high temperatures T > Tc, it exhibits shear
thinning at low temperatures T < Tc. The non-linear rheology in the present
model is understood as due to motions of edge dislocations and resembles the
non-linear transport phenomena in superconductors by vortex motions.Comment: 10 pages, 5 figures, contribution to the conference proceeding of
International Conference on Science of Friction, Irago Aichi, Japan Sept 9-13
200
Microscopic Mechanism for Staggered Scalar Order in PrFe4P12
A microscopic model is proposed for the scalar order in PrFe4P12 where f2
crystalline electric field (CEF) singlet and triplet states interact with two
conduction bands. By combining the dynamical mean-field theory and the
continuous-time quantum Monte Carlo, we obtain an electronic order with
staggered Kondo and CEF singlets with the total conduction number being unity
per site. The ground state becomes semimetallic provided that the two
conduction bands have different occupation numbers. This model naturally
explains experimentally observed properties in the ordered phase of PrFe4P12
such as the scalar order parameter, temperature dependence of the resistivity,
field-induced staggered moment, and inelastic features in neutron scattering.
The Kondo effect plays an essential role for ordering, in strong contrast with
ordinary magnetic orders by the RKKY interaction.Comment: 4 pages, 4figure
Diagonal composite order in two-channel Kondo lattice
A novel type of symmetry breaking is reported for the two-channel Kondo
lattice where conduction electrons have spin and orbital (channel) degrees of
freedom. Using the continuous-time quantum Monte Carlo and the dynamical
mean-field theory, a spontaneous breaking of the orbital symmetry is observed.
The tiny breakdown of orbital occupation number, however, vanishes if the
conduction electrons have the particle-hole symmetry. The proper order
parameter instead is identified as a composite quantity representing the
orbital-selective Kondo effect. The single-particle spectrum of the selected
orbital shows insulating property, while the other orbital behaves as Fermi
liquid. This composite order is the first example of odd-frequency order other
than off-diagonal order (superconductivity), and is a candidate of hidden order
in -electron systems.Comment: 5pages, 4figure
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Cell cycle heterogeneity directs the timing of neural stem cell activation from quiescence.
Quiescent stem cells in adult tissues can be activated for homeostasis or repair. Neural stem cells (NSCs) in Drosophila are reactivated from quiescence in response to nutrition by the insulin signaling pathway. It is widely accepted that quiescent stem cells are arrested in G0 In this study, however, we demonstrate that quiescent NSCs (qNSCs) are arrested in either G2 or G0 G2-G0 heterogeneity directs NSC behavior: G2 qNSCs reactivate before G0 qNSCs. In addition, we show that the evolutionarily conserved pseudokinase Tribbles (Trbl) induces G2 NSCs to enter quiescence by promoting degradation of Cdc25String and that it subsequently maintains quiescence by inhibiting Akt activation. Insulin signaling overrides repression of Akt and silences trbl transcription, allowing NSCs to exit quiescence. Our results have implications for identifying and manipulating quiescent stem cells for regenerative purposes.This work was funded by the Royal Society Darwin Trust Research Professorship, Wellcome Trust Senior Investigator Award 103792 and Wellcome Trust Programme grant 092545 to A.H.B., and Wellcome Trust PhD Studentship 097423 to L.O. A.H.B acknowledges core funding to the Gurdon Institute from the Wellcome Trust (092096) and CRUK (C6946/A14492)
Electrospray ionization mass spectrometric analysis of microcystins, cyclic heptapeptide hepatotoxins: modulation of charge states and [M + H]+ to [M + Na]+ ratio
AbstractElectrospray ionization mass spectrometry was used to develop a rapid, sensitive, and accurate method for determination and identification of hepatotoxic microcystins, cyanobacterial cyclic heptapeptides. To optimize the electrospray ionization conditions, factors affecting charge state distribution, such as amino acid components of sample, proton affinity of the additives, and additive concentration, were investigated in detail and a method for controlling charge states was developed to provide molecular-related ions for assignment of molecular weight and reasonably abundant precursor ions for MS/MS analysis. A procedure for identification of microcystins consisting of known amino acids was proposed: for microcystins giving abundant [M + 2H]2+ ions, the addition of nitrogen-containing bases to the aqueous sample solution is effective to obtain an increased intensity of [M + H]+ ions, whereas the addition of Lewis acids containing nitrogen can produce increased abundances of [M + 2H]2+ ions for microcystins giving weak [M + 2H]2+ ions. Microcystins possessing no arginine residue always give sodium adduct ions [M + Na]+ as the base peak, and these are difficult to fragment via low energy collision-induced dissociation to yield structurally informative products; the addition of oxalic acid increases [M + H]+ ion abundances, and these fragment readily
Two-Dimensional Molecular Patterning by Surface-Enhanced Zn-Porphyrin Coordination
In this contribution, we show how zinc-5,10,15,20-meso-tetradodecylporphyrins (Zn-TDPs) self-assemble into stable organized arrays on the surface of graphite, thus positioning their metal center at regular distances from each other, creating a molecular pattern, while retaining the possibility to coordinate additional ligands. We also demonstrate that Zn-TDPs coordinated to 3-nitropyridine display a higher tendency to be adsorbed at the surface of highly oriented pyrolytic graphite (HOPG) than noncoordinated ones. In order to investigate the two-dimensional (2D) self-assembly of coordinated Zn-TDPs, solutions with different relative concentrations of 3-nitropyridine and Zn-TDP were prepared and deposited on the surface of HOPG. STM measurements at the liquid-solid interface reveal that the ratio of coordinated Zn-TDPs over noncoordinated Zn-TDPs is higher at the n-tetradecane/HOPG interface than in n-tetradecane solution. This enhanced binding of the axial ligand at the liquid/solid interface is likely related to the fact that physisorbed Zn-TDPs are better binding sites for nitropyridines.
Compressed Sensing of Compton Profiles for Fermi Surface Reconstruction: Concept and Implementation
Compton scattering is a well-established technique that can provide detailed
information about electronic states in solids. Making use of the principle of
tomography, it is possible to determine the Fermi surface from sets of
Compton-scattering data with different scattering axes. Practical applications,
however, are limited due to long acquisition time required for measuring along
enough number of scattering directions. Here, we propose to overcome this
difficulty using compressed sensing. Taking advantage of a hidden sparsity in
the momentum distribution, we are able to reconstruct the three-dimensional
momentum distribution of bcc-Li, and identify the Fermi surface with as little
as 14 directions of scattering data with unprecedented accuracy. This
compressed-sensing approach will permit further wider applications of the
Compton scattering experiments.Comment: 12 pages, 7 figure
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