The Agricultural Trade and Economic Development Between the European Community and Maghreb Countries

A critical motivation of the post-war drive for European unification was the desire to change the bases for Europe\u27s relations with the rest of the world in an era of dominance by extraneous continental super-powers and of the decolonization of its own nineteenth-century empires. The strategy adopted after the col lapse of the European Defense Community (EDC) of concentrating on economic integration, and assuming that its inevitable success would facilitate political unification, left the European communities with few instruments for the pursuit of external policy. Even within the economic sphere joint methods of pol icy formation have only fully superceded the national institution in the fields of commerce and agriculture. The European Community is today linked by many bilaterial agreements with individual third countries, and it is committed to many more. The vast majority of these agreements are based on preferential trade arrangements, invariably granting the partner country easier access on a global basis for its industrial exports to the Community Market. Even before the Community enlargement, the Community was the biggest single export market for a large number of third countries, including many of the Mediterranean regions. Purely trading motivations led to a large number of countries seeking some form of special privileged relationship with the Community, and this polar attraction has been further increased by the enlargement

Severe war trauma and post-traumatic stress disorder in adolescents with sensory impairments: a cross-sectional study

A paucity of studies of the psychological status of adolescents with sensory impairments in political conflict areas is noted. This study was set up to examine the exposure of adolescents with sensory impairments (ASIs) to severe war trauma and development of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) as compared to their able-bodied peers (ABPs). It also answers the question whether their impairments have made them more resilient in facing traumatic events. A cross-sectional study of all ASIs attending special schools in three administrative districts in Lebanon (n=166) as well as a group of 166 age and sex-matched ABPs from neighboring schools was conducted. The Post Traumatic Stress Reaction Checklist for children (PTSRC) was used to assess exposure to severe trauma, PTSD and their determinants. ASIs reported a lower exposure to severe traumatic events (24.1%) as compared to their ABPs (69.9%), and risk factors for their exposure were an older age group, a fatherless family, and severe visual impairment. Prevalence rates for PTSD were similar in the two study groups (17.5% and 16.4%). Younger ASIs were at a significantly higher risk of developing PTSD. Lower exposure to trauma among ASIs points to the more sheltered life that they lead. Given the same exposure as ABPs, similar rates of PTSD are noted among the two study groups. This may indicate that having a sensory impairment may protect from PTSD due to decreased exposure to severe trauma and not due to increased resilience of subjects

Misinformation, Fact Checking, and Immigration Voting Preferences

Although misinformation is rampant in social media and society, there is not an extensive literature exploring the impact of misinformation and fact checks on people’s political preferences relating to immigration policies in the US. The purpose of this study is to examine the impacts of misinformation and fact-checking on people’s policy preferences about immigration. Using an experimental survey and a between-subject approach, we observe how anti-immigration politician’s statements (ranging from false to partially true) impact participants’ perceptions of hot-topic immigration issues with and without fact checks. We also study the correlation between people’s political affiliation and the impact of politicians’ misinformation and fact checks

Prácticas de consumo más sustentables de la energía eléctrica

Para lograr un uso racional y sustentable de la energía eléctrica en edificaciones, se requiere aplicar estrategias de ahorro que sean consecuencia de un análisis del consumo eléctrico, de la cultura de uso de los equipos, de las actividades de conservación y mantenimiento a los equipos e instalaciones eléctricas. Este trabajo busca convertirse en una guía con información que relaciona la ingeniería eléctrica con la sustentabilidad para que las personas puedan realizar acciones de ahorro de energía eléctrica

US-China trade: Who is telling the truth?

Econometric studies investigating the US-China trade have largely retrieved data from one side only, mainly the US. There is a considerable difference between what each partner claims to have actually traded with the other. In 2013, the US-reported trade deficit with China was $346.3 billion, while the figure stood at$215.7 billion according to China’s reports, which accumulates merely 62% of the former’s claim. To answer the question of which data source is more reliable for research purposes, we assess the dynamic magnitude of the discrepancy for the period 1984-2013 and review the causes behind it. Through grouping the causes into two categories based on the causative factors, this study concludes there is no enough evidence to trust the data of one side more than the other. We highly encourage more in-depth studies to reconcile the data. Researchers who still prefer to utilize unreconciled data are recommended to express more caution

US-China trade and exchange rate dilemma: The role of trade data discrepancy

The US and China report substantially different figures regarding their trade with each other. Empirical studies suggest that neither the US nor China can be solely blamed for this discrepancy. Previous empirical studies investigating the effects of Yuan depreciation on US-China trade largely retrieved the data from one side only without even citing which side it is. This study extends the literature regarding the dynamic effects of exchange rate on trade balance, known as the J-Curve Theory, by employing the trade data reported by the US and China independently in empirical assessment. We tested 38 trade commodities over the period 1987-2012 and found that: (i) discrepancy in trade data affects the accuracy of testing the J-Curve considerably. (ii) the coefficients suggesting that Yuan depreciation increases the US bilateral trade deficit with China seem much less inconsistent compared with the coefficients claiming the opposite. This applies to short and long run. We propose Mutual Confirmation as a robustness check for the empirical assessment of the J-Curve Theory