Tariff Policy and Transport Costs under Reciprocal Dumping

This paper analyzes tariff competition by investigating the strategic interactions among firms that are highly mobile across national boundaries. Although high transport costs yield a geographic dispersion of the industry, sufficiently low transport costs result in a core-periphery location where nobody bears tariff burdens. In any case, the world economy would be in a much better position under an international coordination scheme. An economy is only required to enforce a weak international trade agreement for improving global welfare.Tariff competition; Transport costs; Reciprocal dumping; Trade agreement; Factor mobility

The Effect of Medical Cooperation in the CKD Patients: 10-Year Multicenter Cohort Study

Introduction: While chronic kidney disease (CKD) is one of the most important contributors to mortality from non-communicable diseases, the number of nephrologists is limited worldwide. Medical cooperation is a system of cooperation between primary care physicians and nephrological institutions, consisting of nephrologists and multidisciplinary care teams. Although it has been reported that multidisciplinary care teams contribute to the prevention of worsening renal functions and cardiovascular events, there are few studies on the effect of a medical cooperation system. Methods: We aimed to evaluate the effect of medical cooperation on all-cause mortality and renal prognosis in patients with CKD. One hundred and sixty-eight patients who visited the one hundred and sixty-three clinics and seven general hospitals of Okayama city were recruited between December 2009 and September 2016, and one hundred twenty-three patients were classified into a medical cooperation group. The outcome was defined as the incidence of all-cause mortality, or renal composite outcome (end-stage renal disease or 50% eGFR decline). We evaluated the effects on renal composite outcome and pre-ESRD mortality while incorporating the competing risk for the alternate outcome into a Fine-Gray subdistribution hazard model. Results: The medical cooperation group had more patients with glomerulonephritis (35.0% vs. 2.2%) and less nephrosclerosis (35.0% vs. 64.5%) than the primary care group. Throughout the follow-up period of 5.59 +/- 2.78 years, 23 participants (13.7%) died, 41 participants (24.4%) reached 50% decline in eGFR, and 37 participants (22.0%) developed end-stage renal disease (ESRD). All-cause mortality was significantly reduced by medical cooperation (sHR 0.297, 95% CI 0.105-0.835, p = 0.021). However, there was a significant association between medical cooperation and CKD progression (sHR 3.069, 95% CI 1.225-7.687, p = 0.017). Conclusion: We evaluated mortality and ESRD using a CKD cohort with a long-term observation period and concluded that medical cooperation might be expected to influence the quality of medical care in the patients with CKD

Novel 3-dimensional virtual hepatectomy simulation combined with real-time deformation

AIM: To develop a novel 3-dimensional (3D) virtual hepatectomy simulation software, Liversim, to visualize the real-time deformation of the liver.METHODS: We developed a novel real-time virtual hepatectomy simulation software program called Liversim. The software provides 4 basic functions: viewing 3D models from arbitrary directions, changing the colors and opacities of the models, deforming the models based on user interaction, and incising the liver parenchyma and intrahepatic vessels based on user operations. From April 2010 through 2013, 99 patients underwent virtual hepatectomies that used the conventional software program SYNAPSE VINCENT preoperatively. Between April 2012 and October 2013, 11 patients received virtual hepatectomies using the novel software program Liversim; these hepatectomies were performed both preoperatively and at the same that the actual hepatectomy was performed in an operating room. The perioperative outcomes were analyzed between the patients for whom SYNAPSE VINCENT was used and those for whom Liversim was used. Furthermore, medical students and surgical residents were asked to complete questionnaires regarding the new software.RESULTS: There were no obvious discrepancies (i.e., the emergence of branches in the portal vein or hepatic vein or the depth and direction of the resection line) between our simulation and the actual surgery during the resection process. The median operating time was 304 min (range, 110 to 846) in the VINCENT group and 397 min (range, 232 to 497) in the Liversim group (P = 0.30). The median amount of intraoperative bleeding was 510 mL (range, 18 to 5120) in the VINCENT group and 470 mL (range, 130 to 1600) in the Liversim group (P = 0.44). The median postoperative stay was 12 d (range, 6 to 100) in the VINCENT group and 13 d (range, 9 to 21) in the Liversim group (P = 0.36). There were no significant differences in the preoperative outcomes between the two groups. Liversim was not found to be clinically inferior to SYNAPSE VINCENT. Both students and surgical residents reported that the Liversim image was almost the same as the actual hepatectomy.CONCLUSION: Virtual hepatectomy with real-time deformation of the liver using Liversim is useful for the safe performance of hepatectomies and for surgical education

The Greenland Telescope: Construction, Commissioning, and Operations in Pituffik

In 2018, the Greenland Telescope (GLT) started scientific observation in Greenland. Since then, we have completed several significant improvements and added new capabilities to the telescope system. This paper presents a full review of the GLT system, a summary of our observation activities since 2018, the lessons learned from the operations in the Arctic regions, and the prospect of the telescope.Comment: 26 pages, 11 figures, and 8 tables. This is the version of the article before publication editing, as submitted by an author to Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific. IOP Publishing Ltd is not responsible for any errors or omissions in this version of the manuscript or any version derived from it. The Version of Record will be added when it becomes availabl

A ring-like accretion structure in M87 connecting its black hole and jet

The nearby radio galaxy M87 is a prime target for studying black hole accretion and jet formation^{1,2}. Event Horizon Telescope observations of M87 in 2017, at a wavelength of 1.3 mm, revealed a ring-like structure, which was interpreted as gravitationally lensed emission around a central black hole^3. Here we report images of M87 obtained in 2018, at a wavelength of 3.5 mm, showing that the compact radio core is spatially resolved. High-resolution imaging shows a ring-like structure of 8.4_{-1.1}^{+0.5} Schwarzschild radii in diameter, approximately 50% larger than that seen at 1.3 mm. The outer edge at 3.5 mm is also larger than that at 1.3 mm. This larger and thicker ring indicates a substantial contribution from the accretion flow with absorption effects in addition to the gravitationally lensed ring-like emission. The images show that the edge-brightened jet connects to the accretion flow of the black hole. Close to the black hole, the emission profile of the jet-launching region is wider than the expected profile of a black-hole-driven jet, suggesting the possible presence of a wind associated with the accretion flow.Comment: 50 pages, 18 figures, 3 tables, author's version of the paper published in Natur

A ring-like accretion structure in M87 connecting its black hole and jet

The nearby radio galaxy M87 is a prime target for studying black hole accretion and jet formation1,2. Event Horizon Telescope observations of M87 in 2017, at a wavelength of 1.3 mm, revealed a ring-like structure, which was interpreted as gravitationally lensed emission around a central black hole3. Here we report images of M87 obtained in 2018, at a wavelength of 3.5 mm, showing that the compact radio core is spatially resolved. High-resolution imaging shows a ring-like structure of [Formula: see text] Schwarzschild radii in diameter, approximately 50% larger than that seen at 1.3 mm. The outer edge at 3.5 mm is also larger than that at 1.3 mm. This larger and thicker ring indicates a substantial contribution from the accretion flow with absorption effects, in addition\ua0to the gravitationally lensed ring-like emission. The images show that the edge-brightened jet connects to the accretion flow of the black hole. Close to the black hole, the emission profile of the jet-launching region is wider than the expected profile of a black-hole-driven jet, suggesting the possible presence of a wind associated with the accretion flow

A Ring-Like Accretion Structure in M87 Connecting Its Black Hole and Jet

The nearby radio galaxy M87 is a prime target for studying black hole accretion and jet formation1,2. Event Horizon Telescope observations of M87 in 2017, at a wavelength of 1.3 mm, revealed a ring-like structure, which was interpreted as gravitationally lensed emission around a central black hole3. Here we report images of M87 obtained in 2018, at a wavelength of 3.5 mm, showing that the compact radio core is spatially resolved. High-resolution imaging shows a ring-like structure of 8.4+0.5−1.1 Schwarzschild radii in diameter, approximately 50% larger than that seen at 1.3 mm. The outer edge at 3.5 mm is also larger than that at 1.3 mm. This larger and thicker ring indicates a substantial contribution from the accretion flow with absorption effects, in addition to the gravitationally lensed ring-like emission. The images show that the edge-brightened jet connects to the accretion flow of the black hole. Close to the black hole, the emission profile of the jet-launching region is wider than the expected profile of a black-hole-driven jet, suggesting the possible presence of a wind associated with the accretion flow