Neoclassical growth and the natural resource curse puzzle

We advance a novel mechanism that helps to explain the puzzling evidence on the natural resource curse. The new channel arises in a standard dynamic Heckscher-Ohlin model composed of small-open economies that take international output prices as given. Within this framework, a more capital-intensive primary sector implies that natural-resource abundant economies grow more slowly along the adjustment path. This effect might be only temporary because the natural input also affects long-run income, and not necessarily in the same direction as transitional growth. We produce quantitative results that show that the new mechanism can account for a significant fraction of the observed output growth gap between resource rich and resource poor U.S. states

An analysis of the hipster (sub)culture and Its reflection in HBO’s TV series girls

According to the casting call posted by Lena Dunham at Backstage.com, one feels tempted to classify the TV series Girls as a hipster show automatically. In fact, this is what its creators and producers have been trying to do since its premiere. This association with this alternative subculture was also emphasized by the differences that the new program presented with respect to its predecessor, Sex in the City. In contrast to its snob protagonists, Girls major characters are designed to give the impression of sharing the characteristics that are considered essential in hipsters, as I will demonstrate. Thus, Hannah Horvath, the protagonist, proclaims herself as "the voice of her generation" in the pilot; and its creators, especially she, try to give that voice hipster-like tones. However, as Michael Scott clearly asserts, "'hipster' and 'hipsterism' are notoriously difficult to define". Notwithstanding this complexity and, in connection with the methodology that I follow in this work, it is my aim to use a solid theoretical background to analyze, first, the features present in Girls that might be connected to its hipster nature; then, I will study their authenticity, with the objective of reflecting on the reasons why those elements might have been used by its creators, to see if they are connected to capitalist economic interests, which is one of my hypotheses. The conclusions of this paper will show the results of the above mentioned analysis. As there are not many academic studies on the hipster and the hipster culture as relevant specialists recognise (e.g.: Schiermer 168), the analysis that I propose here is quite original and necessary. Even more so, if we take into account the fact that most definitions of hipsters are centered on male ones, but little attention is given to female hipsters. Lena Dunham helps to eliminate this stereotype as well as others connected to this type of alternative people (not without controversy).Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

Factors affecting the pathogenicity of Yersinia ruckeri

A group of 42 strains of Yersinia ruckeri were characterized and found to show homogenous biochemical profiles. The optimal conditions for in vitro culture of a representative strain of Y. ruckeri were established. The virulence was increased by passage through fish. A standard method for infection of rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) with Y. ruckeri was devised. As a result cultures of Y. ruckeri grown on full strength of BHIA for 5 h at 30°C in static conditions were found to be most suitable for infection by both intraperitoneal injection and immersion. Virulence of stored cultures was maintained for over 1 year at -20 and/or -70° C and virulence was not lost after up to six consecutive subcultures. The effect on mortality of susceptibility of various fish stocks, water temperature and stocking density is described. The size of fish (between 5 and 60 g) had no effect on virulence. The injection and immersion protocols were used as in vivo models for the study of the effects of dietary vitamin E, with both laboratory prepared diets and commercially available diets. Comparative results of haematological and biochemical parameters, histology, mortality patterns, serum antibody levels and bacterial recovery from the four dietary groups of fish are presented. A comparative in vitro and in vivo study of intra and inter strain vanations among representatives of the serogroup 1 of Y. ruckeri was performed. Under the conditions used, some strains were virulent and other avirulent. Results of Western blotting and SDS-PAGE showed the presence of a heat sensitive factor (HSF), present only in the virulent strains of Y. ruckeri. To date this is the first putative virulence factor described for Y. ruckeri. Further work was undertaken in an attempt to characterize the HSF. It appears to be located in the periplasmic space and to have complex lipid and proteinaceous components. HSF is easily degraded, and is immunogenic and confers some protection when injected into rainbow trout. Selective media and detection methods for the HSF, and their potential use in laboratory and field studies are described.The Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Weymouth, Englan

Molecular dynamics simulations of Ibuprofen release from pH-gated silica nanochannels

The iboprufen delivery process from cylindrical silica pores of diameter 3~nm, with polyamine chains anchored at the pore outlets,was investigated by means of massive molecular dynamics simulations. Effects from pH were introduced by considering polyamine chains with different degree of protonation. High, low and intermediate pH environments were investigated. The increment of the acidity of the environment leads to a significant decrease of the pore aperture,  yielding an effective diameter, for the lowest pH case, that is 3.5~times smaller than the one associated to the highest pH one. Using a biased sampling procedure, Gibbs free energy profiles for the ibuprofen delivery process were obtained. The joint analysis of the corresponding profiles, time evolution of the ibuprofen position within the channel, orientation of the molecule and instantaneous effective diameter of the gate, suggests a 3-steps mechanism for ibuprofen delivery. A complementary analysis of the translational mobility of ibuprofen along the axial direction of the channel revealed a sub-diffusive dynamics in the low and intermediate pH cases.Deviations from Brownian diffusive dynamics are discussed and compared with direct experimental results. Fil: Rodriguez, Javier. Comisión Nacional de Energía Atómica; Argentina. Universidad Nacional del Centro de la Provincia de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas. Núcleo de Investigación en Educacion Ciencia y Tecnologia; ArgentinaFil: Elola, Maria Dolores. Comisión Nacional de Energía Atómica; Argentin

The complex high order Toda lattice and polynomials generated by three term recurrence relations

Se estudia la relación entre redes de Toda y sucesiones de polinomios dados por recuurencias a tres término

Convergence in a dynamic Heckscher–Ohlin model with land

Convergence among nations that share the same preferences and technologies is a key result of the closed-economy neoclassical growth framework that has received substantial support in the data. However, Heckscher–Ohlin versions of the two-sector neoclassical growth model predict that nations that differ in their capital–labor ratios may not converge to the same steady state, even if they are identical in all other aspects. This is a puzzling result that warns us about potential dangers of international trade. In this paper we show that when land, an input in fixed supply, is introduced into the model, international trade in goods no longer limits the capacity of poor nations to catch up with the advanced world

Analyzing aggregate real exchange rate persistence through the lens of sectoral data.

In this paper we analyze the persistence of aggregate real exchange rates (RERs) for a group of EU-15 countries by using sectoral data. The tight relation between aggregate and sectoral persistence recently investigated by Mayoral (2008) allows us to decompose aggregate RER persistence into the persistence of its different subcomponents. We show that the distribution of sectoral persistence is highly heterogeneous and very skewed to the right, and that a limited number of sectors are responsible for the high levels of persistence observed at the aggregate level. We use quantile regression to investigate whether the traditional theories proposed to account for the slow reversion to parity (lack of arbitrage due to nontradibilities or imperfect competition and price stickiness) are able to explain the behavior of the upper quantiles of sectoral persistence. We conclude that pricing to market in the intermediate goods sector together with price stickiness have more explanatory power than variables related to the tradability of the goods or their inputs.PPP puzzle, real exchange rates, persistence, heterogeneous dynamics, aggregation bias, nontradability, imperfect competition, pricing-to-market.

Influence of dissociative recombination on the LTE of argon high-frequency plasmas at atmospheric pressure

This work presents a few preliminary results from a collisional-radiative (CR) model intended to describe an argon microwave (2.45 GHz) plasma at atmospheric pressure. This model aims to investigate the influence of dissociative recombination products on the Saha-Boltzmann plasma equilibrium. The model is tested through comparison with experimental results obtained in an argon plasma column generated by a traveling electromagnetic surface-wave, which is suitable to perform a parametric investigation of the plasma. It is shown that dissociative recombination predominantly populates the 4s levels and the ground state. It is further observed that it strongly influences the population of the levels, specially those of lower energy. However, the higher levels (close to the ionization limit) appear to be in equilibrium whatever the plasma density. This allows assuming that the excitation temperature Texc determined from the upper levels in the atomic system in the Boltzmann-plot is equal to Te.Comment: 12th International Congress on Plasma Physics, 25-29 October 2004, Nice (France

Exchange Rate Regimes for the New Member States of the European Union

One important issue for the new Member States (NMS) of the EU is the choice of the exchange rate regime that will allow them to participate successfully in the EMU process. Two exchange rate arrangements, compatible with the EU Treaty and ERM2 regulations, deserve special attention: flexible exchange rate regime and currency board with respect to the euro. The first regime (within stipulated bands), coupled with an inflation targeting scheme, agrees with the spirit of the European Commission and absorbs more easily supply shocks and Balassa Samuelson effects (which are present in real convergence and catching up episodes). It also prompts the process of nominal convergence. The second regime is suited to countries that need to foster the credibility of their monetary policy, but makes real adjustments to country-specific shocks and Balassa-Samuelson effects more difficult and/or costly. In this paper we investigate the dynamics of output and inflation under each exchange rate regime in NMS during the post EU accession and Maastricht phases. For that purpose, our model extends Gerlach and Smets (2000) and Detken and Gaspar (2003), icluding market distortions and three possible exchange rate regimes. In the empirical part of the paper we estimate SVAR models, following Bayoumi and Eichengreen (1993) methodology, in order to extract variances and covariances between shocks to each NMS and to the euro zone and compute individual social losses under each exchange rate arrangement. We use monthly data on industrial production and CPI for eight NMS countries. Our main result is that the optimal choice varies depending on the institutional and structural features of each economy, and on the likely source and nature of economic shocks to which it is exposed with respect to the whole euro area. Interestingly, the results for each country seem to conform to the general prescriptions that one would derive from the theory of optimal currency areasEU enlargment, exchange rate systems, SVAR, European monetary integration

El papel del ingeniero mecánico en el contexto energético actual

En el presente trabajo se analiza, en primer término, la evolución del papel del ingeniero a través de la historia, desde sus orígenes en la Revolución Industrial hasta nuestros días; asimismo se abordan las diferentes formas en que se ha ido concibiendo la función del ingeniero mecánico y los efectos de la situación económica, tecnológica y medioambiental en estas percepciones sociales. Esta última implicación, la ambiental, sirve de base para establecer la responsabilidad actual de este profesional de la Ingeniería en el consumo de energía, tanto en México como a nivel mundial y el papel que debe cumplir en el diseño de sistemas que permitan transformar y/o emplear la energía de manera racional y eficiente. Con base en lo anterior, finalmente se indican algunos de los conocimientos y habilidades que este profesional debe adquirir durante su formación profesional, para cumplir con esta importante responsabilidad.En el presente trabajo se analiza, en primer término, la evolución del papel del ingeniero a través de la historia, desde sus orígenes en la Revolución Industrial hasta nuestros días; asimismo se abordan las diferentes formas en que se ha ido concibiendo la función del ingeniero mecánico y los efectos de la situación económica, tecnológica y medioambiental en estas percepciones sociales. Esta última implicación, la ambiental, sirve de base para establecer la responsabilidad actual de este profesional de la Ingeniería en el consumo de energía, tanto en México como a nivel mundial y el papel que debe cumplir en el diseño de sistemas que permitan transformar y/o emplear la energía de manera racional y eÀciente. Con base en lo anterior, Ànalmente se indican algunos de los conocimientos y habilidades que este profesional debe adquirir durante su formación profesional, para cumplir con esta importante responsabilidad