TRQ-complications: Who gets the benefits when the EU liberalises Mercosur's access to the beef markets?

Revised version of paper added to AgEcon Search 03/02/2010Agricultural and Food Policy, International Relations/Trade, Livestock Production/Industries,

Lessons from Oxypnictide Thin Films

First experiments on the growth of oxypnictide F-doped LaFeAsO thin films indicated an incomplete normal-to-superconducting transition and offered a work programme challenging to overcome possible difficulties in their fabrication. In this regard the possibility of an all in-situ epitaxial growth appeared to be a matter of time and growth parameters. The following review clarifies that F-doped oxypnictide thin films are extremely difficult to grow by in-situ PLD due to the formation of very stable impurity phases such as oxyfluorides (LaOF) and oxides (La2O3) and the loss of stoichiometry possibly due to incongruent evaporation of the target or re-evaporation of volatile elements at the substrate surface. However, the review also demonstrates that the employed two-step fabrication process for oxypnictide thin films has been successfully applied in the preparation of clean polycrystalline as well as of epitaxial thin films. Fundamental investigations on the upper critical field, its temperature dependence and its anisotropy contributed to an understanding of multiband superconductivity in oxypnictides.Comment: accepted, pre-print versio

Advice for lay callers with low-risk poison exposures by a regional poison control center: the impact on health care expenditures

Background: Since establishing the first poison control centers (PCCs), there is a still ongoing debate regarding their relevance and financing. The present study aims to analyze whether a regional PCC can reduce the economic burden associated with utilization of health care structures due to low-risk poison exposures on the German health care system. Methods: A decision-tree based cost–benefit analysis comparing a situation utilizing PCC consultation versus a hypothetical situation without PCC consultation for low-risk poison exposures from the German health care system's perspective was conducted. The model inputs were obtained by a representative telephone survey of lay callers supplemented by empirical PCC and literature data. A probabilistic and deterministic sensitivity analysis with varying input variables was performed to prove the robustness of the findings. Results: In the underlying telephone survey, data of 378 lay callers could be considered and included in the decision tree model. As a result, the mean costs for handling one low-risk poison exposure case were €41.99 utilizing PCC consultation compared to €145.92 without PCC consultation, indicating a cost–benefit ratio of 3.48 for the existence of the PCC. The sensitivity analysis proved that the outcome of the decision analysis does not change significantly with varying inputs. Conclusion: The existence of PCCs relieve the burden on other health care providers and reduce health care costs to a relevant extent. Therefore, PCCs should be considered as an important supporting structure of the German health care system

E-commerce und europäische Verbraucherpolitik

Die Schaffung eines Binnenmarktes ohne wirtschaftliche und rechtliche Hemmnisse ist oberstes Ziel der Europäischen Gemeinschaft. Während bereits viele Unternehmen die Möglichkeiten des europäischen Binnenmarktes ausschöpfen, ist das Kaufverhalten der Verbraucher im grenzüberschreitenden Geschäftsverkehr und insbesondere im Bereich des grenzüberschreitenden E-Commerce bislang sehr verhalten. Reichen die vorhandenen und für den E-Commerce relevanten verbraucherschutzrechtlichen Regulierungen aus? Ist der aktuell von der EU-Kommission vorgelegte Entwurf einer Rahmenrichtlinie zur Regelung unlauterer Geschäftspraktiken geeignet, um das Ziel eines Gemeinsamen Marktes über eine Stärkung des E-Commerce zu erreichen? --

Price discovery in the markets for credit risk

We examine price discovery in the Credit Default Swap and cor- porate bond market. By using a Markov switching framework we are able to analyze the dynamic behavior of the information shares dur- ing tranquil and crisis periods. The results show that price discovery takes place mostly on the CDS market. The importance of the CDS market even increases during the more volatile crisis periods. Accord- ing to a cross sectional analysis liquidity is the main determinant of a market's contribution to price discovery. During the crisis period, however, we also find a positive link between leverage and CDS market information shares. Overall the results indicate that price discovery measures and their determinants change during tranquil and crisis pe- riods, which emphasizes the importance of more exible frameworks, such as Markov switching models

Long-term Colloidal and Chemical Stability in Aqueous Media of NaYF₄-type Upconversion Nanoparticles Modified by Ligand-Exchange

Surface capping is an essential component of nanoparticles as it provides access to their outstanding properties in the real world. Upconversion nanoparticles are predominantly interesting for use in biological environments, due to their excellent optical properties such as the conversion of near-infrared excitation light into emissions in the visible or UV range of the spectrum, high photostability, and the absence of any intermittence. One of the most efficient upconversion nanoparticles, consisting of lanthanide doped NaYF4, suffers from limited stability in aqueous media. This study investigates a set of five types of surface coatings, ranging from small ligands to polymers of different charge and different coordinating groups, on monodisperse 28 +/- 0.9 nm sized NaYF4(Yb,Er) nanoparticles modified by a two-step ligand exchange mediated by NOBF4. Information on the long-term chemical and colloidal stability for highly diluted aqueous dispersions of these particles is acquired by transmission electron microscopy, dynamic light scattering, and luminescence spectroscopy. The findings are of importance for the development of probes and labels based on upconversion nanoparticles for biological applications