DTI Economics Paper No. 2: A comparative study of the British and Italian Textile and Clothing Industries.

Commissioned by: Association of Suppliers to the British Clothing Industry Conference, Hucknell, Nottingham, February 2004 During the 1990s the Italian clothing and textiles industry grew while the British, French and German textile and clothing industries declined by 40%. In 2001 the Italian textiles & clothing sector was three times larger than the British, accounting for 11.7% of Italian manufacturing output but only 3.3% in Britain. In 2000 Italian fabric exports were 15 times that of the UK. The study was conducted in response to a recommendation by the Textiles and Clothing Strategy Group (TCSG), comprising UK industry, trade unions, Higher Education and the DTI. The purpose of the study was to account for these differences, assess relative merits against value for money and identify best practice in the Italian industry. The methodology comprised comparative analysis and case studies of British and Italian textile mills and tailoring manufacturers, based on my initial recommendations. We visited 5 textile mills in Yorkshire and 15 in Italy plus 3 factories in each country. I conducted a detailed comparative technical analysis of the construction of suit jackets against 13 devised criteria, a number of interviews,compared technologies, equipment and manufacturing methods across all factories, against 8 criteria, drawing on my specialist knowledge and experience as a menswear clothing technologist. The technical reports I compiled formed a section of the final report. Findings were presented to the Clothing Strategy Group and published by the DTI as their Economic Paper No 2 . I made further presentations to industry and academic groups including ASBCI, FCDE, The Textile Society, Savile Row Tailors Association, and LSE. Other outcomes were a publication in the Journal of the Textile Society Text, an article in Selvedge magazine and contributions to the Encyclopaedia of Clothing by Thomson Gale. As a result of this research further consultancy projects have been conducted with the Industry Forum and ASBCI

Why Don't Foreign Firms Cooperate in U.S. Antidumping Investigations?: An Emperical Analysis

Foreign firms face punitive duties if they do not cooperate with the US Department of Commerce (DOC) in antidumping procedures. For example, 37% of all foreign firms involved in antidumping investigations in the US chose faced “facts available” margins for the 1995-2002 period, with average antidumping duties of 31% for cooperating foreign firms, compared to 87% for those who do not. The existing literature has focused on how DOC discretion has led to foreign firm non-cooperation. This paper instead examines individual foreign firm’s decisions about whether to cooperate during this same period. We find evidence that non-cooperation is consistent with a model of foreign firms rationally choosing not to cooperate, rather than solely as a result of investigating authority bias against imports.antidumping, commercial policy, trade policy, facts available

Microstructure and growth of the lenses of schizochroal trilobite eyes

Lenses within the schizochroal eyes of phacopine trilobites are made principally of calcite and characterisation of them using light microscopy and high-resolution electron imaging and diffraction has revealed an array of microstructural arrangements that suggest a common original pattern across the suborder. The low convexity lenses of Odontochile hausmanni and Dalmanites sp. contain calcite fibres termed trabeculae. The c axis of trabecular calcite lies parallel to the lens axis, and adjacent trabeculae are distinguished by small differences in their a axis orientations. Despite the common alignment, the boundaries between trabeculae cross-cut the c axis as they fan out towards the lens base. Trabeculae are absent from the lens immediately beneath the visual surface and instead a radial fringe is present and is composed of micrometre-thick sheets of calcite whose c axes are oriented at a low angle to the visual surface. High convexity lenses are more common than those of lower convexity among the species studied, and they have a much thicker radial fringe. Beneath this fringe all of the lens calcite is oriented with its c axis parallel to the lens axis and it lacks trabeculae. We propose that both the high and low convexity lenses formed by rapid growth of calcite from a surface that migrated inwards from the cornea, and they may have had an amorphous calcium carbonate precursor. The trabeculae and radial fringes are unlikely to have had any beneficial effect on the transmission or focusing of light but rather are the outcomes of an elegant solution to the problem of how to construct a biconvex lens from a crystalline solid

The Obligation to Participate in Biomedical Research

The current prevailing view is that participation in biomedical research is above and beyond the call of duty. While some commentators have offered reasons against this, we propose a novel public goods argument for an obligation to participate in biomedical research. Biomedical knowledge is a public good, available to any individual even if that individual does not contribute to it. Participation in research is a critical way to support an important public good. Consequently, all have a duty to participate. The current social norm is that individuals participate only if they have a good reason to do so. The public goods argument implies that individuals should participate unless they have a good reason not to. Such a shift would be of great aid to the progress of biomedical research, eventually making society significantly healthier and longer lived

The ecology of invertebrate fauna of Manx streams in relation to pollution from disused mines

This investigation was carried out to inquire into the differences in the invertebrate fauna of two closely related streams in the Isle of Man. The Gleneedle stream is a clean mountain stream which drains the western slopes of Gleneedle. The Glendhoo stream drains the eastern sides of Gleneedle and collects runoff water from disused mine workings, it is slightly polluted by the presence of lead (mean annual concentration 0.26 mgl-1) and zinc (mean annual concentration 0.108 mgl-1). The two streams combine and the sampling areas are about 400 metres apart at an altitude of approximately 150m. The major components of the invertebrate fauna were determined for each stream, and observations of population changes recorded for a period of two years, from February, 1978, to January, 1980. Variations in the ionic concentration of lead and zinc, together with other chemical and physical parameters were also recorded. Laboratory experiments were carried out to determine the hatching success of eggs of the mayfly Baetis rhodani and of the trichopterans Hydropsyche instabilis, Rhyscophila dorsalis, Polycentrppus flavomaculatus and Potamophylax latipennis, incubated in water from the Gleneedle stream as a control, in water from the Glendhoo stream and in water to which had been added salts of lead and zinc. Observations were also made in the laboratory of the effect of rearing larvae of Potamophylax latipennis, Polycentropus flavomaculatus, nymphs of Baetis rhodani and the plecopteran Protonemura meyeri in conditions similar to those of the hatching experiments. Attempts to reproduce these experiments in the field did not succeed. The results suggest that small amounts of lead and zinc of the order of 0.15 mgl-1 act synergistically to prevent the hatching of aquatic insect eggs; whilst these amounts are not fatal during larval instar stages they appear to be lethal during metamorphosis. Protonemura meyeri and Baetis rhodani were unable to moult successfully and failed to survive. The trichopteran larvae Polycentropus flavomaculatus and Potamophylax latippnnis were resistant to lead and zinc and survived successfully in this stage. The rate of pupal emergence was low for Potamophylax latipennis, and those teneral adults which did emerge had underdeveloped wings and were incapable of flight. The existence of lead and zinc in the Glendhoo waters exerts a controlling influence on the ecology of the stream, colonization by insect larvae is prevented due to the eggs failing to hatch. The presence of P. latipennis larvae in the Glendhoo stream may be explained by the ovipositing behaviour of the imagines, eggs hatch on vegetation overhanging the water. The larvae of this species are therefore able to inhabit the stream but development is inhibited during pupation

Part II, Strategic Management for Mine Action Operations: A Case for Government- Industry Partnering

Directed mainly at policy makers and leaders in mine-plagued nations and government and non-government mine action planners, the article argues for holistic mine action strategies, coordinated priorities and best management practices. The authors establish the need for nations to rake charge of their mine action organizations and present strategic management methodology to implement self-determination concepts. They insist that humanitarian demining must start with the end in mind, an integrated and nationally prioritized requirements analysis of each of the mine action areas: mine awareness, mine field assessment and surveys, mine and UXO clearance, victim assistance and information management. They also suggest that nations should consider reconstruction and development programs as well as mine action when contemplating resource mobilization. With nationally prioritized programs and mine action centers managed by host nation-dedicated general managers, nations can expect to achieve optimum resource allocation and, most importantly, to look after their people as a first priority. The authors recommend that nations look to industry for dedicated, first-tier mine action program managers

The first total synthesis of (+)-mucosin

The first total synthesis of (+)-mucosin has been completed allowing assignment of the absolute stereochemistry of the natural product. A zirconium induced co-cyclisation was utilised to install the correct stereochemistry of the four contiguous stereocentres around the unusual bicyclo[4.3.0]nonene core

Part I, Strategic Management for Mine Action Operations: A Case for Government-Industry Partnering

Directed mainly at policy makers and leaders in mine-plagued nations and government and non-government mine action planners, the article argues for holistic mine action strategies, coordinated priorities, and best management practices. The authors establish the need for nations to take charge of their mine action organizations and present strategic management methodology to implement self-determination concepts. They insist that humanitarian demining must start with the end in mind, an integrated and nationally prioritized requirements analysis of each of the mine action areas-mine awareness, mine field assessment and surveys, mine and UXO clearance, victim assistance and information management. They also suggest that nations should consider reconstruction and development programs, as well as mine action, when contemplating resource mobilization. With nationally prioritized programs, and mine action centers managed by host nation-dedicated general managers, nation\u27s can expect to achieve optimum resource allocation and, most importantly, to look after their people as a first priority. The author\u27s recommend that nations look to industry for dedicated, first tier mine action program managers