Outsiders and regional trade agreements among small countries : the case of regional markets

Standard theory says that a country's welfare is unaffected by being excluded from a small regional trade agreement. But for most products,"small"countries and regional trade agreements do have some measure of market power. Such market power can arise if (1) supply is geographically concentrated; (2) tastes differ; (3) there is product differentiation (such as quality); (4) transport costs are high; (5) the principal importing countries impose quantitative restrictions; and (6) there is hysterisis because of irreversible costs. The authors show, based on two case studies, that regional trade agreements among small countries may have negative welfare implications for outside countries. In the first case, they find that Argentina's cattle and beef exports to Peru fell when Peru formed a regional trade agreement (the Andean Pact) with various countries, including Colombia, and exporter of the same products. Argentina also lost because of the higher unit price it received on its exports to Peru. Interestingly, Venezuela's entry into the Andean Pact (that is, the formation of a larger bloc) seems to have resulted in a welfare gain for the outside country (Argentina). In the second case, rather than examine whether formation of the Central American Common Market (CACM) had a negative impact on outside countries (for which they lacked data), they examine the impact of the CACM's breakdown on member countries. Although the CACM has essentially been trade-diverting for manufactures, it seems to have been trade-creating for white maize, with both importing and exporting member countries gaining from the regional trade agreement. So, one would expect that a breakdown of the CACM, which resulted in member countries becoming relatively more"outsiders"to the bloc, may have led to a decline in the welfare of both the exporting and importing member countries. This is supported by the data, and implies that if one of the five member countries had been left out of the CACM, it would have been worse off where white maize was concerned.Environmental Economics&Policies,Economic Theory&Research,Markets and Market Access,Trade Policy,Rules of Origin,TF054105-DONOR FUNDED OPERATION ADMINISTRATION FEE INCOME AND EXPENSE ACCOUNT,Trade and Regional Integration,Economic Theory&Research,Trade Policy,Environmental Economics&Policies

Using Response Surface Methods to Correlate the Modal Test of an Inflatable Test Article

This paper presents a practical application of response surface methods (RSM) to correlate a finite element model of a structural modal test. The test article is a quasicylindrical inflatable structure which primarily consists of a fabric weave, with an internal bladder and metallic bulkheads on either end. To mitigate model size, the fabric weave was simplified by representing it with shell elements. The task at hand is to represent the material behavior of the weave. The success of the model correlation is measured by comparing the four major modal frequencies of the analysis model to the four major modal frequencies of the test article. Given that only individual strap material properties were provided and material properties of the overall weave were not available, defining the material properties of the finite element model became very complex. First it was necessary to determine which material properties (modulus of elasticity in the hoop and longitudinal directions, shear modulus, Poisson's ratio, etc.) affected the modal frequencies. Then a Latin Hypercube of the parameter space was created to form an efficiently distributed finite case set. Each case was then analyzed with the results input into RSM. In the resulting response surface it was possible to see how each material parameter affected the modal frequencies of the analysis model. If the modal frequencies of the analysis model and its corresponding parameters match the test with acceptable accuracy, it can be said that the model correlation is successful

Graphene and Copper Coatings for Phase Change Heat Transfer

Phase change heat transfer is crucial to various engineering applications. Some prominent examples include distillation reboiler, nuclear reactor, high-powered electronic systems, and refrigeration. Boiling is a heat transfer process accompanied by phase change from liquid to vapor, subsequently, pool boiling involves the boiling of a stagnant liquid over a heated surface. This talk aims to examine the physical mechanisms of boiling heat transfer that are of prime importance to quantify the efficacy of the process. For various manifestations, the pool boiling performance of a surface is dictated by higher critical heat fluxes and heat transfer coefficients. This talk examines various strategies to create multiscale surface-active engineered surfaces with tunable properties essentially roughness, porosity, hydrophilicity, wickability and wicking rates and their influence on the heat transfer properties. First, several surface engineering methods and the resultant physical properties that can effectively modify the vapor bubble dynamics will be discussed using multiscale graphene coatings as an example. The second part of the talk will focus on electrodeposited graphene nanoplatelet (GNP) enriched copper composite coatings formed systematically by increasing the GNP concentration to yield hierarchal porous structures. These superhydrophilic with very high wicking rates resulted in high critical heat flux (CHF) and heat transfer coefficient (HTC). The copper/2 wt% GNP (weight/volume) composites exceeded the highest pool boiling performance reported in literature with a CHF of 286 W/cm² and HTC of 204 kW/m²-°C, representing an improvement of 130% in CHF and 290% in HTC over a polished copper surface. High thermal conductivity along with improved hydrophilicity and wickability of the copper/GNP coatings are attributed for the enhanced CHF. High-speed images revealed reduced bubble departure diameters and micro-size pores on the electrodeposited surface serving as nucleation sites. The increase in the bubble frequency and delayed formation of vapor blanket resulted in enhanced heat transfer properties

Investigation of Neuronal Affinity to Photoresist Derived Carbon: Study of Diferentiation and m-RNA Expression in PC-12 Cells

Regenerative medicine holds promises for many neurodegenerative diseases such as Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), a disorder that occurs when a sudden trauma causes damage to the brain, leading to apoptosis or necrosis of brain neurons. More than 5 million Americans suffer from TBI as a result of inability to regenerate damaged neurons. The aim of this project was to develop a biocompatible and electrically conductive substrate to promote growth and regeneration of neurons and for our long-term goal as a probe to record intracellular and multisite signals from brain. The substrate was fabricated by pyrolyzing a polymeric precursor -SPR 220.7 at temperatures higher than 700 ºC. Human Neuroblastoma cells - SK-N-MC, SY5Y and mouse teratocarcinoma cells P-19 were found to attach and proliferate on photoresist derived carbon film. Growth and differentiation of rat pheochromocytoma cell-PC12 that serves as a model for primary neurons was demonstrated. Initial examination of cell growth and differentiation was done by observing cell shape and size, and measuring the length of neurites after the cells were differentiated by NGF. Further characterization of cells cultured on photoresist derived carbon substrate was achieved by testing mRNA genes- GADPH and Tau. Findings from this investigative work would possibly help to study new approaches to promote neuronal growth and differentiation in damaged brain regions of people with TBI or in patients with other neurodegenerative disorders, such as Alzheimer\u27s disease in regaining memories

Temporal Trends of Rainfall and Temperature over Two Sub-Divisions of Western Ghats

Rainfall, along with temperature, is the major component of the hydrological cycle, and its spatiotemporal variability is essential from both scientific and practical perspectives. Due to the recent rise in temperatures all over the world, there are quite a number of conflicting trends in inter-annual variability in monsoon rainfall and temperature over the Western Ghats. The Western Ghats, next to the Himalayas, are the major watershed for the major south Indian rivers. In this study, an attempt has been made to understand the monthly, inter-seasonal, and inter-annual trends of rainfall and temperature over the two meteorological sub-divisions, namely Konkan Goa, and Coastal Karnataka. Monthly rainfall data for the period of 1977 to 2016 and temperature data from 1980 to 2016 are used. According to the analysis, maximum rainfall occurs during the summer, whereas the least rainfall occurs during the winter. The parametric, linear regression analysis and student t-test have been used to identify the existence of trends and to determine the changes in rainfall over the time period. An effort has been made to understand the relationship between ISMR (Indian Summer Monsoon Rainfall) and the ENSO phenomenon and to investigate whether the rainfall over WG is influenced by the ENSO phenomenon or not. Results reveal that although there is increased rainfall over Konkan and Goa, while declining over coastal Karnataka, the changes over both the sub-divisions were statistically significant. Considering rainfall in different seasons, there is a significant change during the monsoon season only. The study further reveals that there is increasing rainfall over Konkan and Goa and decreasing rainfall over Coastal Karnataka. Furthermore, no statistically significant trend (positive or negative) was evident in any of the seasons. All temperature trends were positive. The results of this study may prove useful in the preparation of climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies by understanding the patterns of rainfall over WG. Doi: 10.28991/HIJ-SP2022-03-03 Full Text: PD

Examining the impact of structural breaks on long memory of stock returns: evidence from Bombay stock exchange of India long memory / Anju Bala and Kapil Gupta.

This study examines the presence of long memory of Stock Returns in India with reference to structural breaks. The study used the Hurst Exponent in Rescaled Range Analysis as proposed by Lo (1991) to measure the presence of long memory on daily stock returns of the Bombay Stock Exchange Indices from January 2000 to December 2017. The analysis indicates that all indices show long memory effects. It is also evident that all indices exhibit long memory effect in the pre and post subprime crisis period. These findings are consistent with Bhattacharya and Bhattacharya (2018), Jha et al.(2018), Goudarzi (2010) and Lillo and Farmer (2004)