INTERNATIONAL TRADE AND FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT: SUBSTITUTES OR COMPLEMENTS?

International agricultural trade has evolved over time. Processed foods and developing countries have become major growth markets for U.S. agricultural exports, and foreign direct investment (FDI) has become even more important than exports as a means of accessing foreign markets. The critical question is whether FDI is a substitute for or a complement of exports. This research builds upon an existing theoretical FDI model and contributes to the literature through the development of a simultaneous equation system for FDI and exports, which is estimated using two-stage least squares. Empirical analyses were used to examine the relationship between U.S. FDI and exports of processed foods into East Asian countries - China, Japan, Singapore, South Korea, and Taiwan - from 1989 to 1998. The results indicated that a complementary relationship between FDI and exports. Additionally, these results indicated that interest rates, exchange rates, gross domestic product (GDP), and compensation rates are important variables that influence U.S. FDI in East Asian countries, while GDP, exchange rates, and export prices are important export determinants.East Asia, exports, foreign direct investment, international trade, processed foods, International Relations/Trade, F47, Q17, C3, F17,

Exact Zeros of the Partition Function for a Continuum System with Double Gaussian Peaks

We calculate the exact zeros of the partition function for a continuum system where the probability distribution for the order parameter is given by two asymmetric Gaussian peaks. When the positions of the two peaks coincide, the two separate loci of zeros which used to give first-order transition touch each other, with density of zeros vanishing at the contact point on the positive real axis. Instead of the second-order transition of Ehrenfast classification as one might naively expect, one finds a critical behavior in this limit.Comment: 13 pages, 6 figures, revtex, minor changes in fig.2, to be published in Physical Review

Two-dimensional mapping of triaxial strain fields in a multiferroic BiFeO3 thin film using scanning x-ray microdiffraction

The dramatically enhanced polarizations and saturation magnetizations observed in the epitaxially constrained BiFeO3 (BFO) thin films with their pronounced grain-orientation dependence have attracted much attention and are attributed largely to the constrained in-plane strain. Thus, it is highly desirable to directly obtain information on the two-dimensional (2D) distribution of the in-plane strain and its correlation with the grain orientation of each corresponding microregion. Here the authors report a 2D quantitative mapping of the grain orientation and the local triaxial strain field in a 250 nm thick multiferroic BFO film using a synchrotron x-ray microdiffraction technique. This direct scanning measurement demonstrates that the deviatoric component of the in-plane strain tensor is between 5x10(-3) and 6x10(-3) and that the local triaxial strain is fairly well correlated with the grain orientation in that particular region. (c) 2007 American Institute of Physics.X1145Nsciescopu

The DEEP2 Galaxy Redshift Survey: Redshift Identification of Single-Line Emission Galaxies

We present two methods for determining spectroscopic redshifts of galaxies in the DEEP2 survey which display only one identifiable feature, an emission line, in the observed spectrum ("single-line galaxies"). First, we assume each single line is one of the four brightest lines accessible to DEEP2: Halpha, [OIII] 5007, Hbeta, or [OII] 3727. Then, we supplement spectral information with BRI photometry. The first method, parameter space proximity (PSP), calculates the distance of a single-line galaxy to galaxies of known redshift in (B-R), (R-I), R, observed wavelength parameter space. The second method is an artificial neural network (ANN). Prior information, such as allowable line widths and ratios, rules out one or more of the four lines for some galaxies in both methods. Based on analyses of evaluation sets, both methods are nearly perfect at identifying blended [OII] doublets. Of the lines identified as Halpha in the PSP and ANN methods, 91.4% and 94.2% respectively are accurate. Although the methods are not this accurate at discriminating between [OIII] and Hbeta, they can identify a single line as one of the two, and the ANN method in particular unambiguously identifies many [OIII] lines. From a sample of 640 single-line spectra, the methods determine the identities of 401 (62.7%) and 472 (73.8%) single lines, respectively, at accuracies similar to those found in the evaluation sets.Comment: 11 pages, 6 figures, accepted to Ap

Functional rescue of dystrophin deficiency in mice caused by frameshift mutations using Campylobacter jejuni Cas9

Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is a fatal, X-linked muscle wasting disease caused by mutations in the DMD gene. In 51% of DMD cases, a reading frame is disrupted because of deletion of several exons. Here, we show that CjCas9 derived from Campylobacter jejuni can be used as a gene editing tool to correct an out-of-frame Dmd exon in Dmd knockout mice. Herein, we used Cas9 derived from S. pyogenes to generate Dmd knockout (KO) mice with a frameshift mutation in Dmd gene. Then, we expressed CjCas9, its single-guide RNA, and the eGFP gene in the tibialis anterior muscle of the Dmd KO mice using an all-in-one adeno-associated virus (AAV) vector. CjCas9 cleaved the target site in the Dmd gene efficiently in vivo and induced small insertions or deletions at the target site. This treatment resulted in conversion of the disrupted Dmd reading frame from out-of-frame to in-frame, leading to the expression of dystrophin in the sarcolemma. Importantly, muscle strength was enhanced in the CjCas9-treated muscles, without off-target mutations, indicating high efficiency and specificity of CjCas9. This work suggests that in vivo DMD frame correction, mediated by CjCas9 has great potential for the treatment of DMD and other neuromuscular diseases

Enhancement of Membrane Fouling Control in Hybrid Aerobic Membrane Bioreactor System for Domestic Waste Water Application: Effect of Alum Concentration

AbstractAdditional of alum into the membrane bioreactor was found to be able to enhance the performance for the separation process. In this study, the influence of different alum concentrations on membrane fouling control and characteristics of activated sludge of membrane bioreactors were evaluated. Membrane bioreactor with low alum concentration of 1.0g/L was found able to provide better filterability performance compared to MBRs without and with excessive alum addition (3.0g/L and 5.0g/L). This study indicates that agglomeration of flocs and biodegradation mechanisms which took place simultaneously in the MBR with 1.0g/L of alum is able to reduce the total EPS concentration in the MBRs and subsequently contributing to better membrane fouling control

Biomass and Seed Yields of Big Bluestem, Switchgrass, and Intermediate Wheatgrass in Response to Manure and Harvest Timing at Two Topographic Positions

A principle attribute of perennial grasses for biomass energy is the potential for high yields on marginal lands. Objectives of this study were to compare biomass and seed production of intermediate wheatgrass (Thinopyrum intermedium [Host] Barkworth and D.R. Dewey), big bluestem (Andropogon gerardii Vitman), and switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.) as affected by harvest timing and manure application on two topographic positions (footslope and backslope). Footslope is the hillslope position that forms the inclined surface at the base of a slope and backslope forms the steepest, middle position of the hillslope. Grasses were harvested for biomass at anthesis (summer), after a killing frost (autumn), or the following spring after overwintering in the field. Seed was harvested at maturity during 2003 and 2004. Two rates of beef cattle (Bos taurus L.) manure (target rates of 0 and 150 kg total‐N ha−1) were surface applied annually. Maximum annual biomass yield ranged from 4.4 to 5.2, 2.7 to 4.2, and 3.7 to 5.6 Mg ha−1 for intermediate wheatgrass, big bluestem, and switchgrass, respectively. Biomass yields were not different between fall and spring harvest treatments. Biomass yields of big bluestem and switchgrass at the backslope position were 86% and 96% of biomass yields at the footslope position with normal precipitation, respectively. Manure application increased biomass yield approximately 30% during the second year on both topographic positions. The highest seed yield was obtained from intermediate wheatgrass, followed by switchgrass and big bluestem. Utilizing these management practices in our environment, it appears that switchgrass and big bluestem could be allowed to overwinter in the field without suffering appreciable loss of biomass

HI 21 cm Emission Line Study of Southern Galactic Supernova Remnants

We have searched for HI 21 cm line emission from shocked atomic gas associated with southern supernova remnants (SNRs) using data from the Southern Galactic Plane Survey. Among the 97 sources studied, we have detected 10 SNRs with high-velocity HI emission confined to the SNR. The large velocity and the spatial confinement suggest that the emission is likely from the gas accelerated by the SN blast wave. We also detected 22 SNRs which show HI emission significantly brighter than the surrounding regions over a wide ($>10$\kms) velocity interval. The association with these SNRs is less certain. We present the parameters and maps of the excess emission in these SNRs. We discuss in some detail the ten individual SNRs with associated high-velocity HI emission.Comment: 17 pages, 8 figures, accepted for publication in JKAS (Journal of the Korean Astronomical Society

Luminous Compact Blue Galaxies up to z~1 in the HST Ultra Deep Field: I. Small galaxies, or blue centers of massive disks?

We analyze 26 Luminous Compact Blue Galaxies (LCBGs) in the HST/ACS Ultra Deep Field (UDF) at z ~ 0.2-1.3, to determine whether these are truly small galaxies, or rather bright central starbursts within existing or forming large disk galaxies. Surface brightness profiles from UDF images reach fainter than rest-frame 26.5 B mag/arcsec^2 even for compact objects at z~1. Most LCBGs show a smaller, brighter component that is likely star-forming, and an extended, roughly exponential component with colors suggesting stellar ages >~ 100 Myr to few Gyr. Scale lengths of the extended components are mostly >~ 2 kpc, >1.5-2 times smaller than those of nearby large disk galaxies like the Milky Way. Larger, very low surface brightness disks can be excluded down to faint rest-frame surface brightnesses (>~ 26 B mag/arcsec^2). However, 1 or 2 of the LCBGs are large, disk-like galaxies that meet LCBG selection criteria due to a bright central nucleus, possibly a forming bulge. These results indicate that >~ 90% of high-z LCBGs are small galaxies that will evolve into small disk galaxies, and low mass spheroidal or irregular galaxies in the local Universe, assuming passive evolution and no significant disk growth. The data do not reveal signs of disk formation around small, HII-galaxy-like LCBGs, and do not suggest a simple inside-out growth scenario for larger LCBGs with a disk-like morphology. Irregular blue emission in distant LCBGs is relatively extended, suggesting that nebular emission lines from star-forming regions sample a major fraction of an LCBG's velocity field.Comment: 11 pages, 2 figures, AASTeX; accepted for publication in Astrophysical Journal Letter