The effects of antidumping legislation on the degree of product variety and social welfare

Using a simple characteristic space model of monopolistic competition with two interdependent markets, this paper analyses the effects of the bilateral adoption of antidumping measures on the degree of product differentiation, as well as the relationships with the type of product arrangement and the implications for welfare. Under an arrangement where each domestic firm competes directly with two imported products (interleaved arrangement), the model reproduces some of the results that already exist in the literature, where these have been obtained in an oligopolistic context. Through the characterisation of the symmetric zero profit equilibrium, it is shown that under such an arrangement the degree of product variety is higher when governments do not impose bilateral restrictions on prices. By contrast, under an arrangement where each half of the market is made-up of products of the same nationality (split arrangement), the reciprocal imposition of antidumping legislation has no effect on either the degree of product variety or on social welfare. Received: March 2000/Accepted: May 2001     

Preparation of an adhesive in emulsion for maxillofacial prosthetic

Maxillofacial prostheses is a dental medicine specialty aimed at restoring anatomical facial defects caused by cancer, trauma or congenital malformations through an artificial device, which is commonly attached to the skin with the help of an adhesive. The purpose of our research was to develop a pressure-sensitive adhesive (PSA) based on acrylic monomers, characterizing and determining its drying kinetics, that is to say the time it takes to lose 50 to 90% of its moisture. The adhesive synthesis was realized by means of emulsion polymerization; the composition of formulations was: (AA-MMA-EA) and (AA-MMA-2EHA) with different molar ratios. The formulation based on (AA-MMA-2EHA) with 50 w% of solids, presented good adhesive properties such as tack, bond strength, and short drying time. We propose this formulation as a PSA, because it offers an alternative for systemically compromised patients, by less irritation compared to organic solvent-based adhesives.     

Different enrichment procedures for recovery of Listeria monocytogenes from raw chicken samples can affect the results of detection (by chromogenic plating or real-time PCR) and lineage or strain identification

This study aimed to evaluate the effect of different enrichment procedures on the detection of Listeria monocytogenes in food, by a comparison of subculture onto chromogenic agar with real-time PCR. Two different culture media, the primary and secondary enrichment broths of the U.S. Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) method used for PCR detection of L. monocytogenes, were compared for the primary enrichment of retail ground chicken samples. L. monocytogenes was detected after the completion of each enrichment procedure in 63% (complete FSIS procedure) and 60% (plain FSIS secondary enrichment broth incubated for 48 h) of the samples by both culture and PCR, whereas a combination of the results for the two enrichment procedures revealed 86% of the samples to be positive. Most of the samples analyzed contained a mixture of lineage I and II strains, and their ratio varied for each enrichment procedure. This mixture could have a significant effect on the result of detection of L. monocytogenes for each individual sample, explaining the increase in positive samples when the results of the two enrichment procedures were combined. The use of different isolation procedures can affect the specific samples identified as positive and the specific strains isolated.     

Lessening polygalacturonase activity in a commercial enzyme preparation by exposure to pulsed electric fields

The effect of high-intensity pulsed electric field (HIPEF) treatments on polygalacturonase (PG) activity in an aqueous solution of a commercial enzyme preparation was evaluated. HIPEF treatments reduced PG activity notably. Exponentially decaying pulses of 40 and 160 µs generated by a laboratory scale device were applied in a batch processing and bipolar mode. Electric fields ranged from 5.18 to 19.39 kV/cm. The number of pulses ranged up to 400. Temperature was always below 25 °C. Maximum inactivation of PG activity (98%) required 32.4 ms HIPEF treatment at 10.28 kV/cm. PG activity depleted exponentially because of HIPEF treatments. The first order rate constants ranged from 32 to 590 µs ^-1 and increased exponentially with electric field intensity. PG activity decreased exponentially with input electric energy density.     

Antioxidant Activity of Added Phenolic Compounds in Freeze-Dried Microencapsulated Sunflower Oil

This study was aimed at evaluating the effectiveness of phenolic antioxidants with a similar structure but having a different polarity in dried microencapsulated sunflower oil. The antioxidants tested were, on one hand, α-tocopherol and its water soluble analogue, Trolox, and on the other, gallic acid and its ester derivatives, propyl gallate and dodecyl gallate. At a moderate temperature (40 °C), the samples were oxidized under accelerated conditions by using Cu(II) as an oxidation catalyst. The progress of oxidation was followed up over time in the free and encapsulated oil fractions. The peroxide value, the total content of polymers and, when appropriate, the content of α-tocopherol were determined. Quantitative analysis of the total fraction of the non-volatile oxidation products and their distribution in oligomers, dimers and monomers was applied to samples to obtain a complete evaluation of oxidation. Finally, as a complementary measure, the antioxidants were also assessed by direct application of the Rancimat test at 100 °C on the dried microencapsulated oil samples. Results showed that the antioxidants of lower polarity in each series, i.e. tocopherol and dodecyl gallate, were to a great extent the most protective antioxidants. The results obtained by the Rancimat test were consistent with those found during oxidation at moderate temperature. Furthermore, the addition of Cu(II) reduced proportionally the oxidative stability index of the dried microencapsulated samples.     

Combined Model Calibration and Spatial Aggregation

A methodology is proposed for estimating a combined transportation model that accommodates spatial aggregation. It employs maximum likelihood estimation using a joint probability function that includes destination and mode choice simultaneously. The main contribution of the paper is the incorporation of a spatial aggregation strategy to validate the method when the survey data are insufficient. By aggregating small zones into larger districts, estimation of the trip distribution parameters can be achieved with limited data, while mode choice continues to be estimated using disaggregated data. Our results demonstrate that including trip distribution in the travel decision induces variations in the utility function parameter estimators obtained for the different travel modes when only mode choice is estimated. The methodology thus corrects omission bias.