An analysis of the legal problems and issues arising from the European Union's current anti-dumping legislation with regard to the People's Republic of China

On 27 April 1998, the European Union (EU) removed the People's Republic of China from its list of non-market economies (NMEs) due to the progress made under China's economic reforms. After that, it has applied a hybrid anti-dumping policy towards imports from China, including the use of the analogue country method, conditional market economy treatment, one country one duty rule and individual treatment. However, there has been no significant change as far as the EU anti-dumping authority's practice is concerned. This is inconsistent with China's current economic status as a transitional economy with many sectors very close to a market economy. This thesis analyses the implementation of the policy and explores its legal problems and issues from both a theoretical and practical standpoint. The study begins by examining the origin of EU anti-dumping legislation - the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) anti-dumping rules. It identifies the legal problems of EU anti-dumping practice in the context of China's economic reforms starting from 1979. In order to suggest solutions to several of the problems thus identified, comparative studies are made to reveal alternative strategies by illustrating the anti-dumping legislation of the U.S, Australia, New Zealand and Japan insofar as it is applicable to China. Due to China's accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO) on 11 December 2001, new issues and disputes may arise with regard to the EU's anti-dumping practice. With regard to all of these issues, this thesis finally attempts to propose solutions to both the EU and China

Analysis of chicken anemia virus genome: evidence of intersubtype recombination

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Chicken anemia virus (CAV) is the causative agent of chicken infectious anemia. CAV putative intergenotypic recombinants have been reported previously. This fact is based on the previous classification of CAV sequences into three genotypes. However, it is unknown whether intersubtype recombination occurs between the recently reported four CAV genotypes and five subtypes of genome sequences.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Phylogenetic analysis, together with a variety of computational recombination detection algorithms, was used to investigate CAV approximately full genomes. Statistically significant evidence of intersubtype recombination was detected in the parent-like and two putative CAV recombinant sequences. This event was shown to occur between CAV subgroup A1 and A2 sequences in the phylogenetic trees.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>We revealed that intersubtype recombination in CAV genome sequences played a role in generating genetic diversity within the natural population of CAV.</p

Molecular epidemiology of chicken anemia virus in commercial farms in China

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Chicken anemia virus (CAV) is the causative agent of chicken infectious anemia (CIA). A high prevalence of CAV has been reported in China. However, VP1 sequences of Chinese isolates show no clear genotype clustering or correlation with geographic origin. Therefore, the present study aimed to detect and characterize CAV isolates from China based on sequence and phylogenetic analysis of the VP1, VP2 and VP3 genes.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Of 460 spleen samples tested by PCR, 47 (10.22%) were found to be positive for CAV. A total of 25 CAV, approximately full genomes, from different commercial farms were characterized. Phylogenetic analysis of the Chinese CAV sequences together with strains from different countries resulted in four distinct groups (A-D) with significant high bootstrap values. The Chinese viral sequences were located as four different clusters within groups A and D. All the Chinese CAV genomes characterized in this study had glutamine (Q) at amino acid position 394, which indicated that all are highly pathogenic. Mutations associated with attenuation and weaker reactivity with monoclonal antibody 2A9 were absent in the Chinese sequences.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>We revealed that CAV prevalence was lower than that reported previously in commercial farms in China. We also showed four distinct sequence groups (A-D), and genetic variability in local CAV sequences that could be divided into four groups based on phylogenetic analysis.</p

A Monte Carlo Method for Rayleigh Scattering in Liquid Detectors

A new Monte Carlo method has been implemented to describe the angular and polarization distributions of anisotropic liquids, like water and linear alkylbenzene, by considering orientational fluctuations of polarizability tensors. The scattered light of anisotropic liquids is depolarized with an angular distribution of $1+(1-\rho_v)/(1+3\rho_v)\cos^2\theta$, which is modified by the depolarization ratio $\rho_v$. A standalone experiment has validated the simulation results of LAB. The new method can provide more accurate knowledge on light propagation in large liquid detectors, which is beneficial to the developments of reconstruction for detectors.Comment: 13 pages, 5 figure

Clinical and MRI Characteristics of 56 Patients with Idiopathic Normal Pressure Hydrocephalus

Objective: To analyze and summarize the clinical and MRI manifestations of patients with idiopathic normal pressure hydrocephalus (iNPH) diagnosed via surgery in order to improve the understanding of this disease. Methods: We performed a retrospective analysis of the clinical and preoperative MR (including 3DT1WI, T2WI, and T2 FLAIR) data of 56 patients with iNPH diagnosed via shunt surgery at our hospital to evaluate and describe MR linear parameters and common radiological features. Results: Among the 56 patients with iNPH, 91.1%, 60.7%, and 42.9% showed gait disturbance, cognitive impairment, and urinary disturbance, respectively; the classical triad accounted for 23.2%. The most common comorbidities were hypertension (51.8%), diabetes (28.6%), and PD (12.5%). In the analysis of the 56 patients’ MR images, 82.1% had acute callosal angle and 39.3%, positive disproportionately enlarged subarachnoid space (DESH) signs , with a mean DESH score of (5.24±1.27). Conclusion: Patients with confirmed iNPH most often also have hypertension, diabetes mellitus, and PD. The classical triad is less frequent, and the positive rate of typical MR signs is not high. Thus, the accurate diagnosis and prognosis prediction of negative patients remains challenging and should be combined with other clinical examinations to clarify the diagnosis and treatment

Measurements of Rayleigh Ratios in Linear Alkylbenzene

In present work an experiment has been designed to measure the Rayleigh ratio directly at $405$ nm and $432$ nm for linear alkylbenzene which is a common solvent used in liquid scintillator detectors of neutrino experiments. The perpendicularly polarized Rayleigh ratio is determined to be $(4.52\pm 0.28)\times 10^{-6}$ m$^{-1}\cdot$ sr$^{-1}$ at $405$ nm and $(3.82\pm 0.24)\times 10^{-6}$ m$^{-1}\cdot$ sr$^{-1}$ at $432$ nm, and the corresponding Rayleigh scattering length is $L_{Ray} = 22.9\pm 0.3(\mathrm{stat.})\pm 1.7(\mathrm{sys.})$ m at $405$ nm and $L_{Ray}= 27.0\pm 0.9(\mathrm{stat.})\pm 1.8(\mathrm{sys.})$ m at $432$ nm.Comment: 16 pages, 7 figure

Loss of nuclear PTEN in HCV-infected human hepatocytes

Background Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is a major risk factor for chronic hepatitis and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC); however, the mechanism of HCV-mediated hepatocarcinogenesis is not well understood. Insufficiency of PTEN tumor suppressor is associated with more aggressive cancers, including HCC. We asked whether viral non-coding RNA could initiate oncogenesis in HCV infected human hepatocytes. The results presented herein suggest that loss of nuclear PTEN in HCV-infected human hepatocytes results from depletion of Transportin-2, which is a direct target of viral non-coding RNA, vmr11. Methods The intracellular distribution of PTEN in HCV-infected cells was monitored by immunostaining and Western blots of nuclear and cytoplasmic proteins. Effects of PTEN depletion were examined by comparing expression arrays of uninfected cells with either HCV-infected or vmr11-transfected cells. Target genes suggested by array analyses were validated by Western blot. The influence of nuclear PTEN deficiency on virus production was determined by quantitative analysis of HCV genomic RNA in culture media of infected hepatocytes. Results Import of PTEN to the nucleus relies on the interaction of Transportin-2 and PTEN proteins; we show that depletion of Transportin-2 by HCV infection or by the introduction of vmr11 in uninfected cells results in reduced nuclear PTEN. In turn, nuclear PTEN insufficiency correlates with increased virus production and the induction of ?-H2AX, a marker of DNA double-strand breaks and genomic instability. Conclusion An HCV-derived small non-coding RNA inhibits Transportin-2 and PTEN translocation to the nucleus, suggesting a direct viral role in hepatic oncogenesis