Analyzing the Agricultural Trade Impacts of the Canada-Chile Free Trade Agreement

In this paper we study the agricultural trade impacts of the Canada Chile Free Trade Agreement (CCFTA). We find that the effect of the CCFTA on Chilean agricultural exports to Canada is large and positive. We estimate that approximately one-half of a 90 percent increase in Chilean exports to Canada can be attributed to trade preferences that the country received under the agreement. We found no effect of the agreement on Canadian exports to Chile. As far as we know, our paper is among the few that carries out a detailed empirical analysis of \ the effect of the FTA on agriculture. Most empirical papers that have studied the trade impact of FTAs rely on country-wide gravity models and aggregate trade data. These aggregate analyses can hide negative effects of FTAs on some sectors (like agriculture) where a country may have a comparative disadvantage. Our approach is industry-focused and differs from the mainstream literature analyzing FTAs.Canada, Chile, FTA, regional, Agricultural and Food Policy, International Relations/Trade,

Antidumping Duties in the Agriculture Sector: Trade Restricting or Trade Deflecting

The key issues on the negotiation table in the agriculture sector are the elimination of export subsidies, a progressive reduction of tariffs and reduction in domestic support. However, it is observed that trade liberalization often involves moving from one set of distortions to another rather than a movement to free trade. More specifically, in the case of trade liberalization in manufacturing, countries have replaced lower tariffs with antidumping duties (ADD). Feinberg and Olson (2005) empirically show that countries that agreed to larger tariff reductions under the Uruguay Round are more likely to use AD statutes to protect their domestic industries. Thus if the use of ADD in agriculture are effective as a trade barrier (that is there is little trade diversion) then negotiators might need to include AD reform along-with lower tariffs in their future negotiations. In this paper we analyze whether imposition of an antidumping duty restrict imports of the named commodity or is the supply of imports deflected from countries named in the petition to countries not named in the antidumping petition? We find that AD duties have had a significant impact on the imports of agricultural commodities from countries named on the petition. However, our results also indicate that there was little trade diversion towards countries not named in the AD petition. It seems that AD is a plausible protectionist policy.Agriculture, Antidumping, Trade Effect, US, Protection, International Relations/Trade,

THE USERS OF LUMBER AND THE US-CANADA SOFTWOOD LUMBER AGREEMENT: AN EVENT STUDY

In this paper we analyze whether the Softwood Lumber Agreement between US and Canada imposed significant economic costs on the users of Lumber in the US. To ascertain this impact we use an event study. Our event study analyzes variations in the stock prices of lumber using firms listed at the major stock markets in the US. We find that events leading to the Softwood Lumber Agreement had significant negative impacts on the stock prices of industries using softwood lumber. The average reduction of stock prices for our sample of firms was approximately 5.42% over all the events considered.International Relations/Trade,

Essays on Anti-dumping

This dissertation studies the use of the US antidumping (AD) legislation. In the first chapter, I use panel data on AD petitions filed by US industries from 1980 to1995 to study the determinants of antidumping filings. I argue that a negative binomial model is better suited to study the industry's decision to petition than the poisson model employed in the previous literature. I find that contrary to the past findings, import penetration, one of the International Trade Commission's material injury criteria, is not an important factor. I also find that a larger workforce, lower price cost margin, and a higher capital intensity increases an industry's probability of petitioning. In the second chapter I study the stock market response to AD petitions filed by US firms. The main question I study is why so few firms petition for import relief. It is known that at lest in the short run, petition itself can restrain imports, lead to higher prices and hence higher profits. Given this fact, what restrains more firms from filing for protection? I use an event study to analyze the impact of petitioning on the market value of a firm to analyze the puzzle. For some industries, firms experience a decline in their market value at the time of petition. Therefore, it is possible that firms fear that petitioning would signal cost inefficiency on their part. In turn, this concern may act as a deterrent to filing AD petitions. I test the hypothesis of a negative signal by comparing the market response of an AD petition for petitioning firms and non-petitioning firms producing the same product. The main aim of third chapter, based on joint work with Sumeet Gulati, is to evaluate whether the Softwood Lumber Agreement (SLA), signed between US and Canada in May 1996, had a significant economic impact on the industrial users (rather than producers) of lumber in the US. Firm's daily stock prices are used in an event study to analyze market's response to the signing of SLA. I find that the SLA imposed significant economic costs on the users of lumber. The fourth chapter is a case study of the chemical industry. Restricting imports by imposing antidumping duties protects domestic firms from predatory pricing by foreign firms, and reduces competition in the domestic market. I look at the cases filed by the chemical industry to illustrate this possibility

Functional analysis of mce4A gene of Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Rv using antisense approach

Antisense strategy is an attractive substitute for knockout mutations created for gene silencing. mce genes have been shown to be involved in mycobacterial uptake and intracellular survival. Here we report reduced expression of mce4A and mce1A genes of Mycobacterium tuberculosis using antisense technology. For this, 1.1 kb region of mce4A and mce1A was cloned in reverse orientation in pSD5 shuttle vector, resulting into antisense constructs pSD5-4AS and pSD5-1AS, respectively. In M. tuberculosis H37Rv approximately 60% reduction in Mce4A and 66% reduction in expression of Mce1A protein were observed. We also observed significantly reduced intracellular survival ability of both antisense strains in comparison to M. tuberculosis containing pSD5 alone. RT-PCR analysis showed antisense did not alter the transcription of upstream and downstream of mceA genes of the respective operon. The colony morphology, in vitro growth characteristics and drug susceptibility profile of the antisense construct remained unchanged. These results demonstrate that antisense can be a promising approach to assign function of a gene in a multiunit operon and could be suitably applied as a strategy

Altered regulation and expression of genes by BET family of proteins in COPD patients

Correction: PLoS One 2018 12 (4): 0175997Background BET proteins (BRD2, BRD3, BRDT and BRD4) belong to the family of bromodomain containing proteins, which form a class of transcriptional co-regulators. BET proteins bind to acetylated lysine residues in the histones of nucleosomal chromatin and function either as co-activators or co-repressors of gene expression. An imbalance between HAT and HDAC activities resulting in hyperacetylation of histones has been identified in COPD. We hypothesized that pan-BET inhibitor (JQ1) treatment of BET protein interactions with hyperacety-lated sites in the chromatin will regulate excessive activation of pro-inflammatory genes in key inflammatory drivers of alveolar macrophages (AM) in COPD. Methods and findings Transcriptome analysis of AM from COPD patients indicated up-regulation of macrophage M1 type genes upon LPS stimulation. Pan-BET inhibitor JQ1 treatment attenuated expression of multiple genes, including pro-inflammatory cytokines and regulators of innate and adaptive immune cells. We demonstrated for the first time that JQ1 differentially modulated LPS-induced cytokine release from AM or peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) of COPD patients compared to PBMC of healthy controls. Using the BET regulated gene signature, we identified a subset of COPD patients, which we propose to benefit from BET inhibition. Conclusions This work demonstrates that the effects of pan-BET inhibition through JQ1 treatment of inflammatory cells differs between COPD patients and healthy controls, and the expression of BET protein regulated genes is altered in COPD. These findings provide evidence of histone hyperacetylation as a mechanism driving chronic inflammatory changes in COPD.Peer reviewe

From Therapeutic Factors to Mechanisms of Change in the Creative Arts Therapies:A Scoping Review

Empirical studies in the creative arts therapies (CATs; i.e., art therapy, dance/movement therapy, drama therapy, music therapy, psychodrama, and poetry/bibliotherapy) have grown rapidly in the last 10 years, documenting their positive impact on a wide range of psychological and physiological outcomes (e.g., stress, trauma, depression, anxiety, and pain). However, it remains unclear how and why the CATs have positive effects, and which therapeutic factors account for these changes. Research that specifically focuses on the therapeutic factors and/or mechanisms of change in CATs is only beginning to emerge. To gain more insight into how and why the CATs influence outcomes, we conducted a scoping review (Nstudies = 67) to pinpoint therapeutic factors specific to each CATs discipline, joint factors of CATs, and more generic common factors across all psychotherapy approaches. This review therefore provides an overview of empirical CATs studies dealing with therapeutic factors and/or mechanisms of change, and a detailed analysis of these therapeutic factors which are grouped into domains. A framework of 19 domains of CATs therapeutic factors is proposed, of which the three domains are composed solely of factors unique to the CATs: “embodiment,” “concretization,” and “symbolism and metaphors.” The terminology used in change process research is clarified, and the implications for future research, clinical practice, and CATs education are discussed

Microduplications of 16p11.2 are associated with schizophrenia

Recurrent microdeletions and microduplications of a 600-kb genomic region of chromosome 16p11.2 have been implicated in childhood-onset developmental disorders1,2,3. We report the association of 16p11.2 microduplications with schizophrenia in two large cohorts. The microduplication was detected in 12/1,906 (0.63%) cases and 1/3,971 (0.03%) controls (P = 1.2 × 10−5, OR = 25.8) from the initial cohort, and in 9/2,645 (0.34%) cases and 1/2,420 (0.04%) controls (P = 0.022, OR = 8.3) of the replication cohort. The 16p11.2 microduplication was associated with a 14.5-fold increased risk of schizophrenia (95% CI (3.3, 62)) in the combined sample. A meta-analysis of datasets for multiple psychiatric disorders showed a significant association of the microduplication with schizophrenia (P = 4.8 × 10−7), bipolar disorder (P = 0.017) and autism (P = 1.9 × 10−7). In contrast, the reciprocal microdeletion was associated only with autism and developmental disorders (P = 2.3 × 10−13). Head circumference was larger in patients with the microdeletion than in patients with the microduplication (P = 0.0007)

Signaling Costs: Why Don't More Firms Petition for Protection?

The main aim is to question why we don't see more firms petitioning for import relief. It is well accepted that petitioning itself can restrain imports, lead to higher prices and hence higher profits (in the short run). What prevents more firms from filing for protection? It may be that petitioning reflects cost inefficiency on the part of the petitioning firm, and concerns about revealing this information might act as a deterrent for firms to come forward with their complaints. However, in a declining industry where a large number of firms are contemplating exit, petitioning could be a signal that the firm expects to remain in the market for the near future. The signaling hypothesis is tested by comparing the stock market response of an antidumping petition for petitioning firms and non-petitioning firms producing the same product.