The global chilling effects of antidumping.

Advocates of antidumping (AD) laws downplay their effects by arguing that the trade flows that are subject to AD are small and their distortions negligible. This paper is the first to counter that notion by quantifying the worldwide effect of AD laws on aggregate trade flows. The recent proliferation of AD laws across countries provides us with a natural experiment to estimate the trade effects of adopting versus using AD laws; differences in the intensity of use among countries with older AD laws allow us to investigate reputation effects. For this purpose, we estimate worldwide trade flows using a gravity equation spanning 21 years (1980-2000) of annual observations. Our estimates confirm that AD effects are not small. Among other findings, new tough users have their aggregate imports depressed by 15.7 billion US$a year (or 6.7$ on top of the cumulative negative effect of reputation. For some countries, the dampening effects of AD laws on trade flows are found to nearly offset the gains from trade liberalization.Behavior; Control; Power; Law; Intensity; Trade liberalization;

The Global Chilling Effects of Antidumping Proliferation

Advocates of antidumping (AD) laws downplay their effects by arguing that the trade flows that are subject to AD are small and their distortions negligible.This paper is the first to counter that notion by quantifying the worldwide effect of AD laws on aggregate trade flows.The recent proliferation of AD laws across countries provides us with a natural experiment to estimate the trade effects of adopting versus using AD laws; differences in the intensity of use among countries with older AD laws allow us to investigate reputation effects.For this purpose, we estimate worldwide trade flows using a gravity equation spanning 21 years (1980-2000) of annual observations.Our estimates confirm that AD effects are not small.Among other findings, new tough users have their aggregate imports depressed by 15.7 billion US$a year (or 6.7$ on top of the cumulative negative effect of reputation.For some countries, the dampening effects of AD laws on trade flows are found to nearly offset the gains from trade liberalization.antidumping;gravity equation;trade liberalization;trade flows

Investment and credit constraints in transition economies : micro evidence from Poland, the Chrch Republic, Bulgaria and Romania.

In this paper we investigate to what extent firm investment in transition countries is sensitive to internal finance. We use accounts data of over 4000 companies in four countries at different stages of transition. We find that firms in Bulgaria and Romania are less sensitive to internal financing constraints, in contrast to firms in Poland and the Czech Republic. A likely explanation is that Bulgaria and Romania, which are the least advanced in the reforms towards market economy, have a stronger persistence of soft budget constraints than in the other two more advanced countries.Investment; Trade; Credit; Economy; Companies;

Automated supervised classification of variable stars I. Methodology

The fast classification of new variable stars is an important step in making them available for further research. Selection of science targets from large databases is much more efficient if they have been classified first. Defining the classes in terms of physical parameters is also important to get an unbiased statistical view on the variability mechanisms and the borders of instability strips. Our goal is twofold: provide an overview of the stellar variability classes that are presently known, in terms of some relevant stellar parameters; use the class descriptions obtained as the basis for an automated `supervised classification' of large databases. Such automated classification will compare and assign new objects to a set of pre-defined variability training classes. For every variability class, a literature search was performed to find as many well-known member stars as possible, or a considerable subset if too many were present. Next, we searched on-line and private databases for their light curves in the visible band and performed period analysis and harmonic fitting. The derived light curve parameters are used to describe the classes and define the training classifiers. We compared the performance of different classifiers in terms of percentage of correct identification, of confusion among classes and of computation time. We describe how well the classes can be separated using the proposed set of parameters and how future improvements can be made, based on new large databases such as the light curves to be assembled by the CoRoT and Kepler space missions.Comment: This paper has been accepted for publication in Astronomy and Astrophysics (reference AA/2007/7638) Number of pages: 27 Number of figures: 1

Herschel PACS and SPIRE spectroscopy of the Photodissociation Regions associated with S 106 and IRAS 23133+6050

Photodissociation regions (PDRs) contain a large fraction of all of the interstellar matter in galaxies. Classical examples include the boundaries between ionized regions and molecular clouds in regions of massive star formation, marking the point where all of the photons energetic enough to ionize hydrogen have been absorbed. In this paper we determine the physical properties of the PDRs associated with the star forming regions IRAS 23133+6050 and S 106 and present them in the context of other Galactic PDRs associated with massive star forming regions. We employ Herschel PACS and SPIRE spectroscopic observations to construct a full 55-650 {\mu}m spectrum of each object from which we measure the PDR cooling lines, other fine- structure lines, CO lines and the total far-infrared flux. These measurements are then compared to standard PDR models. Subsequently detailed numerical PDR models are compared to these predictions, yielding additional insights into the dominant thermal processes in the PDRs and their structures. We find that the PDRs of each object are very similar, and can be characterized by a two-phase PDR model with a very dense, highly UV irradiated phase (n $\sim$ 10^6 cm^(-3), G$_0$ $\sim$ 10^5) interspersed within a lower density, weaker radiation field phase (n $\sim$ 10^4 cm^(-3), G$_0$ $\sim$ 10^4). We employed two different numerical models to investigate the data, firstly we used RADEX models to fit the peak of the $^{12}$CO ladder, which in conjunction with the properties derived yielded a temperature of around 300 K. Subsequent numerical modeling with a full PDR model revealed that the dense phase has a filling factor of around 0.6 in both objects. The shape of the $^{12}$CO ladder was consistent with these components with heating dominated by grain photoelectric heating. An extra excitation component for the highest J lines (J > 20) is required for S 106.Comment: 20 pages, 10 figures, A&A Accepte

Blade-plate fixation for distal femoral fractures: A case-control study

AbstractBackgroundThe blade-plate is the earliest of the contemporary internal fixation devices introduced for distal femoral fractures. The recent development of dedicated, fixation devices has considerably limited its use. The objective of this study was to evaluate outcomes after blade-plate fixation and after fixation using other devices.HypothesisOutcomes after blade-plate fixation are similar to those after condylar screw-plate, distal femoral nail, or locking condylar plate fixation.Material and methodsWe reviewed outcomes after 62 patients managed with blade-plate fixation and included in a multicentre retrospective study (n=57) or a multicentre prospective study (n=5) and we compared them to outcomes after fixation using condylar screw-plates (n=82), distal femoral nail (n=219), or locking condylar plates (n=301). The four groups were comparable for age, gender distribution, occupational status, prevalence of skin wounds, patient-related factors, type of accident, and type of fracture. The evaluation relied on the clinical International Knee Society (IKS) score and on radiographs.ResultsNo significant differences existed across the four groups for operative time, blood transfusion use, complications, need for bone grafting, non-union rate, or IKS score values. The early surgical revision rate for removal of the fixation material was 4% with the blade-plate and 16% with the other three fixation devices (P=0.02). Post-operative fracture deformity was similar in the four groups with, however, a higher proportion of residual malalignment in the screw-fixation group. The final anatomic axis was 3.3±1.4° with the blade-plate versus 2.3±3.7° with the other three fixation devices. The blade-plate group had few patients with axial malalignment, and the degree of malalignment was limited to 3° of varus and 10° of valgus at the most, compared to 10° and 18° respectively, with the other three fixation devices.ConclusionDespite the now extremely limited use and teaching of blade-plate fixation, as well as the undeniable technical challenges raised by the implantation of this device, the blade-plate is a simple, strong, and inexpensive fixation method. It remains reliable for the fixation of distal femoral fractures. The disfavour into which the blade-plate is currently falling is not warranted.Level of evidenceIII, case-control study

Epidemiology of distal femur fractures in France in 2011–12

AbstractIntroductionEpidemiological study of femoral fractures has been dominated by proximal fractures. Distal fracture requires equal attention for correct management.Patients and methodsA prospective study in 12 French hospital centres between June 1st, 2011 and May 31st, 2012 recruited cases of non-pathologic distal femoral fracture in patients over 15 years of age without ipsilateral knee prosthesis.ResultsThere were 183 fractures in 177 patients. Mean age was 63.5 years. Female patients (60.5%) were significantly older than males (mean age, respectively 73 versus 48.4 years). Walking was unrestricted in only 83 patients (46.89%). On the AO/OTA (Orthopaedic Trauma Association) classification, there were 86 type A fractures (47%), 29 type B (15.8%) and 68 type C (37.2%). Fractures were open in 32 cases (17.5%), most frequently in male, young patients and type C fracture. Causal trauma was low-energy (fall from own height) in 108 cases, most frequently in female patients and type A fracture. Forty-five patients were proximal femoral implant bearers.ConclusionDistal femoral fracture shows highly variable epidemiology. AO/OTA type A fracture mainly involves elderly, relatively dependent female subjects. Outcome study requires radiographic data and assessment of functional capacity.Level of evidence IVProspective cohort study

Dusty shells surrounding the carbon variables S Scuti and RT Capricorni

For the Mass-loss of Evolved StarS (MESS) programme, the unprecedented spatial resolution of the PACS photometer on board the Herschel space observatory was employed to map the dusty environments of asymptotic giant branch (AGB) and red supergiant (RSG) stars. Among the morphologically heterogeneous sample, a small fraction of targets is enclosed by spherically symmetric detached envelopes. Based on observations in the 70 {\mu}m and 160 {\mu}m wavelength bands, we investigated the surroundings of the two carbon semiregular variables S Sct and RT Cap, which both show evidence for a history of highly variable mass-loss. S Sct exhibits a bright, spherically symmetric detached shell, 138" in diameter and co-spatial with an already known CO structure. Moreover, weak emission is detected at the outskirts, where the morphology seems indicative of a mild shaping by interaction of the wind with the interstellar medium, which is also supported by the stellar space motion. Two shells are found around RT Cap that were not known so far in either dust emission or from molecular line observations. The inner shell with a diameter of 188" shows an almost immaculate spherical symmetry, while the outer ~5' structure is more irregularly shaped. MoD, a modification of the DUSTY radiative transfer code, was used to model the detached shells. Dust temperatures, shell dust masses, and mass-loss rates are derived for both targets

Building an ontology catalogue for smart cities

Apart from providing semantics and reasoning power to data, ontologies enable and facilitate interoperability across heterogeneous systems or environments. A good practice when developing ontologies is to reuse as much knowledge as possible in order to increase interoperability by reducing heterogeneity across models and to reduce development effort. Ontology registries, indexes and catalogues facilitate the task of finding, exploring and reusing ontologies by collecting them from different sources. This paper presents an ontology catalogue for the smart cities and related domains. This catalogue is based on curated metadata and incorporates ontology evaluation features. Such catalogue represents the first approach within this community and it would be highly useful for new ontology developments or for describing and annotating existing ontologies