Trade, Finance and Endogenous Firm Heterogeneity

We study how financial frictions affect firm-level heterogeneity and trade. We build a model in which productivity differences across monopolistically competitive firms are endogenous and depend on investment decisions at the entry stage. By increasing entry costs, financial frictions lower the exit cutoff and hence the value of investing in bigger projects with more dispersed outcomes. As a result, financial frictions make firms smaller and more homogeneous, and hinder the volume of exports. Export opportunities, instead, shift expected profits to the tail and increase the value of technological heterogeneity. We test these predictions using comparable measures of sales dispersion within 365 manufacturing industries in 119 countries, built from highly disaggregated US import data. Consistent with the model, financial development increases sales dispersion, especially in more financially vulnerable industries; sales dispersion is also increasing in measures of comparative advantage. These results help explaining the effect of financial development and factor endowments on export sales.We acknowledge financial support from the Barcelona GSE, the Spanish Ministry of Economy, and Competitiveness (ECO2014-55555-P and ECO2014-59805-P), and the Catalan AGAUR (2014-SGR-546)

A new computational technique for re-entry flow calculations based upon a shock-fitting technique for unstructured grids

An in-house developed, 2D/3D unstructured CFD solver has been extended to deal with a mixture of thermally perfect gases in chemical non-equilibrium. The Euler equations have been coupled with a state-to-state kinetic model for argon plasma. The spatial discretization uses compact stencil Residual Distribution Schemes and shock waves can be modelled using either shock-capturing or shock-fitting. Promising results have been obtained using the shock-fitting approach for a 2D hypersonic flow past the fore-body of a circular cylinder

The role of fundamental solution in Potential and Regularity Theory for subelliptic PDE

In this survey we consider a general Hormander type operator, represented as a sum of squares of vector fields plus a drift and we outline the central role of the fundamental solution in developing Potential and Regularity Theory for solutions of related PDEs. After recalling the Gaussian behavior at infinity of the kernel, we show some mean value formulas on the level sets of the fundamental solution, which are the starting point to obtain a comprehensive parallel of the classical Potential Theory. Then we show that a precise knowledge of the fundamental solution leads to global regularity results, namely estimates at the boundary or on the whole space. Finally in the problem of regularity of non linear differential equations we need an ad hoc modification of the parametrix method, based on the properties of the fundamental solution of an approximating problem

Approximations of Sobolev norms in Carnot groups

This paper deals with a notion of Sobolev space $W^{1,p}$ introduced by J.Bourgain, H.Brezis and P.Mironescu by means of a seminorm involving local averages of finite differences. This seminorm was subsequently used by A.Ponce to obtain a Poincar\'e-type inequality. The main results that we present are a generalization of these two works to a non-Euclidean setting, namely that of Carnot groups. We show that the seminorm expressd in terms of the intrinsic distance is equivalent to the $L^p$ norm of the intrinsic gradient, and provide a Poincar\'e-type inequality on Carnot groups by means of a constructive approach which relies on one-dimensional estimates. Self-improving properties are also studied for some cases of interest

Multi-imaging investigation to evaluate the relationship between serum cystatin c and features of atherosclerosis in Non-ST-Segment elevation acute coronary syndrome

Objectives: High cystatin C(CysC) levels are associated with impaired cardiovascular outcome. Whether CysC levels are independently related to the atherosclerosis burden is still controversial. Methods: We enrolled 31 non-ST-segment elevation acute coronary syndrome patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention. Patients were divided into 2 groups on the basis of median value of serum CysC. Using the high CysC group as a dependent variable, univariable and multivariable analyses were used to evaluate the association between CysC and three different features of atherosclerosis: 1) coronary plaque vulnerability as assessed by optical coherence tomography (OCT), 2) coronary artery calcium (CAC) by means of computed tomography scan, and 3) aortic wall metabolic activity, as assessed using 18 F-Fluorodeoxyglucose-positron emission tomography ( 18 F-FDG-PET). Results: After univariable and multivariable analyses, 18 F-FDG uptake in the descending aorta (DA) was independently associated with a low level of CysC [(Odds Ratio = 0.02; 95%CI 0.0004-0.89; p = 0.044; 18 F-FDG uptake measured as averaged maximum target to blood ratio); (Odds Ratio = 0.89; 95%CI 0.82-0.98, p = 0.025; 18 F-FDG uptake measured as number of active slices)]. No trend was found for the association between CysC and characteristics of OCT-assessed coronary plaque vulnerability or CAC score. Conclusions: In patients with non-ST-segment elevation acute coronary syndrome (NSTE-ACS), 18 F-FDG uptake in the DA was associated with a low level of serum CysC. There was no relation between CysC levels and OCT-assessed coronary plaque vulnerability or CAC score. These findings suggest that high levels of CysC may not be considered as independent markers of atherosclerosis

Recommendations of the 2007 Healthy Lifestyle Forum to Help Combat Childhood Obesity

Senator Guy Barnett has held eight Healthy Lifestyle Forums to Help Combat Childhood Obesity since entering the Senate in 2002. The most recent forum, held on 20 June 2007 at Australian Parliament House Canberra, brought together approximately 60 concerned members of health care, academia, industry and public health to develop useful interventions and ideas for fighting childhood obesity. This report details the recommendations of the groups convened. They were asked to consider actions in the key areas of: clinical/health care system monitoring/benchmarking infant and early childhood schools and the wider community, and industry and private sector solutions

Potential theory results for a class of PDOs admitting a global fundamental solution

We outline several results of Potential Theory for a class of linear par-tial differential operators L of the second order in divergence form. Under essentially the sole assumption of hypoellipticity, we present a non-invariant homogeneous Harnack inequality for L; under different geometrical assumptions on L (mainly, under global doubling/Poincar\ue9 assumptions), it is described how to obtainan invariant, non-homogeneous Harnack inequality. When L is equipped with a global fundamental solution \u393, further Potential Theory results are available (such as the Strong Maximum Principle). We present some assumptions on L ensuring that such a \u393 exists

Improved Survival after Transarterial Radioembolisation for Hepatocellular Carcinoma Gives the Procedure Added Value

Background: Transarterial Radioembolisation (TARE) requires multidisciplinary experience and skill to be effective. The aim of this study was to identify determinants of survival in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), focusing on learning curves, technical advancements, patient selection and subsequent therapies. Methods: From 2005 to 2020, 253 patients were treated. TARE results achieved in an initial period (2005-2011) were compared to those obtained in a more recent period (2012-2020). To isolate the effect of the treatment period, differences between the two periods were balanced using "entropy balance". Results: Of the 253 patients, 68 were treated before 2012 and 185 after 2012. In the second period, patients had an Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) Performance Status (PS) score of 1 (p = 0.025) less frequently, less liver involvement (p = 0.006) and a lesser degree of vascular invasion (p = 0.019). The median overall survival (OS) of patients treated before 2012 was 11.2 months and that of patients treated beginning in 2012 was 25.7 months. After reweighting to isolate the effect of the treatment period, the median OS of patients before 2012 increased to 16 months. Conclusions: Better patient selection, refinement of technique and adoption of personalised dosimetry improved survival after TARE. Conversely, sorafenib after TARE did not impact life expectancy

Aggiornamenti in tema di tutela della salute occupazionale dei lavoratori della sanità

The board of the Thematic Section on Preventive Medicine for Health Care Workers of the Italian Society of Occupational Medicine and Industrial Hygiene (SIMLII) programmed a national conference on occupational risks of health care workers to be held in late 2009. Main topics will be: a) biohazards; b) biomechanical risk; c) psychosocial factors. Three different working groups were established to tackle critical aspects and suggest practical recommendations to occupational health professionals. Preliminary issues are presented while final results will be presented at the conference on September 2009. © PI-ME, 2008

Fulani cattle productivity and management in the Kachia grazing reserve, Nigeria

Kachia Grazing Reserve (KGR) in northern Nigeria was home to some 10,000 Fulani pastoralists and their 40,000 cattle in June 2011. This study examines productivity and management of cattle belonging to livestock keepers within the reserve before and after a mass immigration event when 3,000 refugees moved into the reserve with their cattle to escape inter-community violence during May 2011. Data, on livestock management strategies (transhumance) and production parameters (herd size, composition, fertility, dynamics), were collected in March, June and October 2011.Cattle productivity in KGR is geared to supporting Fulani households while maintaining herd wealth. High offtake of young animals, especially the selling of heifers, was an unusual finding and may indicate that KGR pastoralists have been restricting their herd size voluntarily as well as limiting milk production to household requirements. This is probably due to the absence of a commercial milk market and a higher reliance on the sale of young stock to meet cash needs.Despite the widespread perception that grazing reserves are promoting sedentarisation of Fulani pastoralists and curbing transhumance, the inhabitants of the KGR were observed to practise wide-ranging transhumance both during wet and dry seasons driven by the limited availability of grazing. Some households selected a sub-sample of animals for transhumance rather than sending their whole herd, and some maintained cattle on alternative land-holdings outside the reserve. KGR households described modifying their usual transhumance practices in response to the mass immigration event and insecurity.Nevertheless, the herd demography results from this study are broadly similar to data obtained from other studies over the past 40 years, indicating that productivity and management practices have remained relatively unchanged