Strict Comparison Research Articles

The Vulnerability of EU Anti-Dumping Measures Against China after December 11, 2016

The purpose of this paper, first, is to serve as a reminder that the European Union will violate its WTO obligations under the WTO Anti-Dumping Agreement (ADA) if EU anti-dumping investigators continue to apply ‘non-market economy’ (NME) treatment of Chinese exports in AD investigations under Section 15 of China’s Accession Protocol (CAP) to the WTO and the EU Anti-Dumping Regulation (ADR) after December 11, 2016. Moreover, the ADR, “as such”, will be vulnerable to legal challenge in the WTO dispute settlement mechanism if it is not brought into compliance with the WTO AD Agreement by that date. These observations, however, do not prejudge the legality of EU anti-dumping measures – “as applied” - that the EU has (or will have) adopted against Chinese producers prior to the December deadline. The post-2016 legality of already existing EU anti-dumping measures that are “not based on a strict comparison with domestic prices or costs in China” is particularly relevant in context of the rising amount of new EU AD measures and investigations against Chinese producers of steel and solar panels that the EU has imposed and initiated in the last 2 years. It is this very question that is subject to analysis and discussion in the second part of this paper. The third part provides for a brief normative assessment of the systemic implications and legally viable alternatives to EU non-compliance with the WTO Anti-Dumping Agreement.

Single-File Escape of Colloidal Particles from Microfluidic Channels.

Single-file diffusion is a ubiquitous physical process exploited by living and synthetic systems to exchange molecules with their environment. It is paramount to quantify the escape time needed for single files of particles to exit from constraining synthetic channels and biological pores. This quantity depends on complex cooperative effects, whose predominance can only be established through a strict comparison between theory and experiments. By using colloidal particles, optical manipulation, microfluidics, digital microscopy, and theoretical analysis we uncover the self-similar character of the escape process and provide closed-formula evaluations of the escape time. We find that the escape time scales inversely with the diffusion coefficient of the last particle to leave the channel. Importantly, we find that at the investigated microscale, bias forces as tiny as 10^{-15} N determine the magnitude of the escape time by drastically reducing interparticle collisions. Our findings provide crucial guidelines to optimize the design of micro- and nanodevices for a variety of applications including drug delivery, particle filtering, and transport in geometrical constrictions.

Abstract P264: Association of D-dimer with Incident Cardiovascular Disease Events and F3 Gene Variants in African Americans: Results From the Jackson Heart Study

Plasma D-dimer, a fibrin degradation product, is a biomarker of both coagulation and fibrinolysis and a risk factor for both arterial and venous thrombosis. African Americans (AAs) have increased risk of thrombosis and higher levels of D-dimer as compared to European populations, but little is known about the genetic architecture of D-dimer in AAs. D-dimer was assessed in 4163 AAs from the Jackson Heart Study (mean age 55 years, 62.1% female). We hypothesized that D-dimer levels would associate with incident cardiovascular disease events and with both coding and noncoding genetic variants. Median (interquartile range) D-dimer in the cohort was 0.40 (0.26-0.64) μg/ml. D-dimer was associated with increased risk of coronary heart disease (hazard ratio (HR) per standard deviation (SD)=1.26, p=0.012), stroke (HR=1.27, p=0.018), heart failure (HR=1.33, p=0.001), and mortality (HR=1.25, p<0.0001) in models adjusted for age, sex, BMI, current smoking, diabetes, hypertension, systolic blood pressure, and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol. Using data from the Affymetrix Genome-Wide Human SNP Array 6.0, imputation based on the 1000 Genomes project reference panel (Phase I, Version 3, March 2012 release) was completed using MACH 1.0 and minimac in 2709 participants with D-dimer. Associations were assessed using MACH2QTL v.1.13, with models adjusted for age, sex, and the first ten principal components for global ancestry calculated using EIGENSOFT. The most significant signal was for an intergenic locus near F3 (top variant rs2022030, p=5.71x10 -12 , minor allele frequency=10.6%, imputation r 2 =1). F3 codes for tissue factor, a necessary co-factor for factor VIIa in the initiation of the extrinsic blood coagulation pathway. The F3 locus had been previously associated with D-dimer levels in European populations but has not been reported for AAs. Data were also available from the Illumina HumanExome Beadchip, version 1.1, in 2502 individuals; single variant analyses and gene-based tests for nonsynonymous, splicing, and nonsense variants with a minor allele frequency <5% were performed using RAREMETAL, adjusted for age, sex, and the first ten principal components. For single variant analyses, a nonsynonymous variant in GPRASP1 (G protein-coupled receptor associated sorting protein 1, rs145805077, p= 1.84x10 -7 , minor allele frequency=0.3%) was significantly associated with decreased D-dimer. No gene-based test result met the strict multiple comparison significance threshold; the top gene-based result with the sequence kernel association test (SKAT) was for six variants in PPM1M (protein phosphatase, Mg2+/Mn2+ dependent, 1M, p=6.09x10 -6 ). These results highlight D-dimer as an important predictor of cardiovascular disease risk in AAs and that levels of this biomarker are associated with the F3 locus.

Comparison of MERIS, MODIS, SeaWiFS-derived particulate organic carbon, and in situ measurements in the South China Sea

ABSTRACTMedium Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MERIS), Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS), and Sea-viewing Wide Field-of-view Sensor (SeaWiFS) particulate organic carbon (POC) concentration products for the South China Sea (SCS) were compared with in situ data collected from October 2007 to December 2013. Spectral remote-sensing reflectance (Rrs,λ) was also measured to help understand POC algorithm performance. A strict comparison of the satellite-derived POC and in situ measurements showed that MERIS, MODIS, and SeaWiFS underestimated in situ values by 29.1, 11.7, and 31.5%, respectively. Similar results were obtained with a relaxed matching criterion. Through analysis of the causes of product uncertainty, the results suggested that satellite retrieval of Rrs,λ and the global POC algorithm both have an impact on inversion accuracy. However, the formulation of the POC algorithm seems to be more critical. When a regional algorithm was developed to obtain satellite-derived POC, both the strict and relaxed comparison results showed significant improvement, but for coastal waters, both algorithms had larger errors. Other factors affecting the comparison are also discussed.

The Vulnerability of EU Anti-Dumping Measures Against China after December 11, 2016

The purpose of this paper, first, is to serve as a reminder that the European Union will violate its WTO obligations under the WTO Anti-Dumping Agreement (ADA) if EU anti-dumping investigators continue to apply ‘non-market economy’ (NME) treatment of Chinese exports in AD investigations under Section 15 of China’s Accession Protocol (CAP) to the WTO and the EU Anti-Dumping Regulation (ADR) after December 11, 2016. Moreover, the ADR, “as such”, will be vulnerable to legal challenge in the WTO dispute settlement mechanism if it is not brought into compliance with the WTO AD Agreement by that date. These observations, however, do not prejudge the legality of EU anti-dumping measures – “as applied” - that the EU has (or will have) adopted against Chinese producers prior to the December deadline. The post-2016 legality of already existing EU anti-dumping measures that are “not based on a strict comparison with domestic prices or costs in China” is particularly relevant in context of the rising amount of new EU AD measures and investigations against Chinese producers of steel and solar panels that the EU has imposed and initiated in the last 2 years. It is this very question that is subject to analysis and discussion in the second part of this paper. The third part provides for a brief normative assessment of the systemic implications and legally viable alternatives to EU non-compliance with the WTO Anti-Dumping Agreement.

Analysis of variability in multi-day GPS imputed activity-travel diaries using multi-dimensional sequence alignment and panel effects regression models

The use of GPS devices and smartphones has made feasible the collection of multi-day activity-travel diaries. In turn, the availability of multi-day travel diary data opens up new avenues for analyzing dynamics of individual travel behavior. This paper addresses the issue of day-to-day variability in activity-travel behavior. The study, which is the first of its kind in China, applies a unique combination of methods to analyze the degree of dissimilarity between travel days using multi-day GPS data. First, multi-dimensional sequence alignment is applied to measure the degree of dissimilarity in individual daily activity-travel sequences between pairs of travel days. Next, a series of panel effects regression models is used to estimate the effects of socio-demographics and days of the week. The models are estimated using multi-day activity-travel patterns imputed from GPS-enabled smartphone data collected in Shanghai, China. Results indicate that (1) days of the week have significant effects on day-to-day variability in activity-travel behavior with weekday activity-travel sequences being more similar and thereby different from weekend sequences; (2) the degree of dissimilarity in activity-travel sequences is strongly influenced by respondent socio-demographic profiles; (3) individuals having more control over and flexibility in their work schedule show greater intra-personal variability. Day-to-day variability in activity-travel behavior of this sample is similar to patterns observed in developed countries in some aspects but different in others. Strict international comparison study based on comparative data collection is required to further distinguish the sources of travel behavior differences between developing countries and developed countries. The paper ends with a discussion of the limitations of this study and the implications of the research findings for future research.

Chinaas Market Economy Status Under WTO Antidumping Law after 2016

Paragraph 15(d) of China’s Accession Protocol provides that the provisions of subparagraph 15(a)(ii) shall expire in 2016. Subparagraph 15(a)(ii) permits the importing Member to derogate from a strict comparison with Chinese prices or costs when determining the normal value of the products if the producers under investigation cannot clearly show that Market Economy conditions prevail in the industry in question. While a respected commentator argues that, despite the stipulated expiration, the importing Member can still treat China as a Non-Market Economy and use alternative methodologies based on the remaining provisions in the chapeau, this paper takes a different view by analyzing the role and textual structure of paragraph 15(a) in light of the negotiation documents and relevant rulings of the Appellate Body in EC-Fasteners. It demonstrates that the expiry of subparagraph 15(a)(ii) in 2016 will have the same effect as the expiry of paragraph 15(a) as a whole. Thus, there will no longer be any legal basis in China’s Accession Protocol for the importing Member to derogate from a strict comparison with Chinese prices or costs after 2016. In this sense, the expiration of subparagraph 15(a)(ii) in effect bestows Market Economy Status on China.

Closed convex hulls of unitary orbits in C⁎-algebras of real rank zero

In this paper, we study closed convex hulls of unitary orbits in various C$^*$-algebras. For unital C$^*$-algebras with real rank zero and a faithful tracial state determining equivalence of projections, a notion of majorization describes the closed convex hulls of unitary orbits for self-adjoint operators. Other notions of majorization are examined in these C$^*$-algebras. Combining these ideas with the Dixmier property, we demonstrate unital, infinite dimensional C$^*$-algebras of real rank zero and strict comparison of projections with respect to a faithful tracial state must be simple and have a unique tracial state. Also, closed convex hulls of unitary orbits of self-adjoint operators are fully described in unital, simple, purely infinite C$^*$-algebras.

On the Structure of Cuntz Semigroups in (Possibly) Nonunital C*-algebras

AbstractWe examine the ranks of operators in semi-finite C*-algebras as measured by their densely defined lower semicontinuous traces. We first prove that a unital simple C*-algebra whose extreme tracial boundary is nonempty and finite contains positive operators of every possible rank, independent of the property of strict comparison. We then turn to nonunital simple algebras and establish criteria that imply that the Cuntz semigroup is recovered functorially from the Murray–von Neumann semigroup and the space of densely defined lower semicontinuous traces. Finally, we prove that these criteria are satisfied by not-necessarily-unital approximately subhomogeneous algebras of slow dimension growth. Combined with results of the first author, this shows that slow dimension growth coincides with Z-stability for approximately subhomogeneous algebras.

The WAW International Typology as a Mechanism to Monitor Agricultural and Rural Transformations

The article presents the World Agriculture Watch’s proposed international typology of agricultural holdings and their contributions, along with examples on how it can inform policy by capturing and monitoring important trends of agricultural transformations, taking into account the different types of holdings, from family to corporate farm, from subsistence to commercial, with different levels of assets and potential needs. Implementing such typology on existing datasets, notably census, is key but has revealed important challenges, showing the need to combine different sources of data including qualitative data and expert knowledge, paving the way for longer term reinforcement of monitoring systems. If strict comparison based on different data and country perspective is difficult, the added value of a network facilitating exchanges around a common framework has been confirmed both at the national level and globally, to inform international statistical guidelines and policy process.

Automatic Detection of Phone-Based Anomalies in Dysarthric Speech

Perceptual evaluation is still the most common method in clinical practice for diagnosing and following the progression of the condition of people with speech disorders. Although a number of studies have addressed the acoustic analysis of speech productions exhibiting impairments, additional descriptive analysis is required to manage interperson variability, considering speakers with the same condition or across different conditions. In this context, this article investigates automatic speech processing approaches dedicated to the detection and localization of abnormal acoustic phenomena in speech signal produced by people with speech disorders. This automatic process aims at enhancing the manual investigation of human experts while at the same time reducing the extent of their intervention by calling their attention to specific parts of the speech considered as atypical from an acoustical point of view. Two different approaches are proposed in this article. The first approach models only the normal speech, whereas the second models both normal and dysarthric speech. Both approaches are evaluated following two strategies: one consists of a strict phone comparison between a human annotation of abnormal phones and the automatic output, while the other uses a “one-phone delay” for the comparison. The experimental evaluation of both approaches for the task of detecting acoustic anomalies was conducted on two different corpora composed of French dysarthric speakers and control speakers. These approaches obtain very encouraging results and their potential for clinical uses with different types of dysarthria and neurological diseases is quite promising.

Strict comparison of projections and positive combinations of projections in certain multiplier algebras

In this paper we investigate whether positive elements in the multiplier algebras of certain finite C*-algebras can be written as finite linear combinations of projections with positive coefficients (PCP). Our focus is on the category of underlying C*-algebras that are separable, simple, with real rank zero, stable rank one, finitely many extreme traces, and strict comparison of projections by the traces. We prove that the strict comparison of projections holds also in the multiplier algebra of the stabilizer algebra. Based on this result and under the additional hypothesis that the multiplier algebra has real rank zero, we characterize which positive elements of the multiplier algebra are PCP.

Decomposition rank of UHF-absorbing C∗-algebras

Let A be a unital separable simple C∗-algebra with a unique tracial state. We prove that if A is nuclear and quasidiagonal, then A tensored with the universal uniformly hyperfinite (UHF) algebra has decomposition rank at most one. We then prove that A is nuclear, quasidiagonal, and has strict comparison if and only if A has finite decomposition rank. For such A, we also give a direct proof that A tensored with a UHF algebra has tracial rank zero. Using this result, we obtain a counterexample to the Powers–Sakai conjecture.

Fifteen novel immunoreactive proteins of Chinese virulent Haemophilus parasuis serotype 5 verified by an immunoproteomic assay.

Haemophilus parasuis (H. parasuis) is associated with meningitis, polyserositis, polyarthritis and bacterial pneumonia. At present, its prevention and control is difficult because of the lack of suitable subunit vaccines. Nowadays, high-throughput methods, immunoproteomics, are available to screen for more vaccine candidates. A protein extraction method for H. parasuis and two-dimensional electrophoresis (2-DE) were optimized to provide high-resolution profiles covering pH 3 to 10. Twenty immunoreactive spots were excised from gels after strict comparison between 2-DE Western blot membranes and the relevant gels. Matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization-time of flight-mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF-MS) and MALDI-TOF-TOF-MS successfully identified 16 different proteins. Fifteen of them were reported as immunoreactive proteins in H. parasuis for the first time. In addition, recombinant HP5-7 (ABC transporter, periplasmic-binding protein) showed immunoreactivity both with hyperimmune rabbit serum and convalescent swine serum. Four recombinants of the 14 successfully expressed genes showed immunoreactivity with hyperimmune rabbit serum.

Tracial state space with non-compact extreme boundary

Let A be a unital simple separable C*-algebra. If A is nuclear and infinite-dimensional, it is known that strict comparison of positive elements is equivalent to Z-stability if the extreme boundary of its tracial state space is compact and of finite covering dimension. Here we provide the first proof of this result in the case of certain non-compact extreme boundaries. Additionally, if A has strict comparison of positive elements, it is known that the Cuntz semigroup of this C*-algebra is recovered functorially from the Murray–von Neumann semigroup and the tracial state space whenever the extreme boundary of the tracial state space is compact and of finite covering dimension. We extend this result to the case of a countable extreme boundary with finitely many cluster points.

The Cuntz semigroup and stability of closeC∗-algebras

We prove that separable C*-algebras which are completely close in a natural uniform sense have isomorphic Cuntz semigroups, continuing a line of research developed by Kadison - Kastler, Christensen, and Khoshkam. This result has several applications: we are able to prove that the property of stability is preserved by close C*-algebras provided that one algebra has stable rank one; close C*-algebras must have affinely homeomorphic spaces of lower-semicontinuous quasitraces; strict comparison is preserved by sufficient closeness of C*-algebras. We also examine C*-algebras which have a positive answer to Kadison's Similarity Problem, as these algebras are completely close whenever they are close. A sample consequence is that sufficiently close C*-algebras have isomorphic Cuntz semigroups when one algebra absorbs the Jiang-Su algebra tensorially.

User Profiles and Identifing User Behaviour in the Cloud Computing Environment

In this paper, for the detection of the masquerade attacks in the cloud infrastructure collaborative filtering algorithm based on the cloud model is proposed. One of the advantages of this model is the identification of the similarity between the users on the basis of the cloud model. While using the similarity measurement method based on the cloud model, it does not require a strict comparison between the score value of operations used by different users. Here we provide the calculation of the statistic features of the score values of all operations used by the user at the access point, then we provide a comparison of statistics features of the input data and based of these we determine the similarity between the input data.

The kernel of the determinant map on certain simple $C^*$-algebras

Let A be a unital separable simple C*-algebra such that either (1) A has real rank zero, strict comparison and cancellation or (2) A is TAI. We study the kernel of the de la Harpe--Skandalis determinant on GL^0(A), proving that the determinant vanishes exactly on elements which are products of 8 multiplicative commutators. We also have results for the unitary case.

Mean dimension and AH-algebras with diagonal maps

Mean dimension for AH-algebras with diagonal maps is introduced. It is shown that if a simple unital AH-algebra with diagonal maps has mean dimension zero, then it has strict comparison on positive elements. In particular, the strict order on projections is determined by traces. Moreover, a lower bound of the mean dimension is given in term of Toms' comparison radius. Using classification results, if a simple unital AH-algebra with diagonal maps has mean dimension zero, it must be an AH-algebra without dimension growth. Two classes of AH-algebras with diagonal maps are shown to have mean dimension zero: the class of AH-algebras with at most countably many extremal traces, and the class of AH-algebras with numbers of extreme traces which induce same state on the K0-group being uniformly bounded (in particular, this class includes AH-algebras with real rank zero).

Z-Stability and Finite-Dimensional Tracial Boundaries

We show that a simple separable unital nuclear nonelementary $C^*$-algebra whose tracial state space has a compact extreme boundary with finite covering dimension admits uniformly tracially large order zero maps from matrix algebras into its central sequence algebra. As a consequence, strict comparison implies $\Z$-stability for these algebras.