The determinants of intrafirm trade: Evidence from French firms

How well does the theory of the firm explain the choice between intrafirm and arms' length trade? This paper uses firm-level import data from France to look into this question. We find support for three key predictions of property-rights theories of the multinational firm. Intrafirm imports are more likely: (i) in capital- and skill-intensive firms; (ii) in highly productive firms; (iii) from countries with well-functioning judicial institutions. We further bridge previous aggregate findings with our investigation by decomposing intrafirm imports into an extensive and intensive margin. Doing so we uncover interesting patterns in the data that require further theoretical investigation.intrafirm trade; outsourcing; firm heterogeneity; incomplete contracts; internationalization strategies; quality of institutions, extensive margin, intensive margin.

Possible resonance free lattices for the VLHC

A systematic search for resonance-free lattices has been performed. Numerous solutions exist for sets of about fifty cells. A VLHC-like machine could be made of blocks of 61 cells which are free from resonances up to tenth order. A tracking test shows a 20% improvement of the dynamic aperture with respect to standard cells, for several multi-pole components. It opens the possibility of relaxing the constraints on systematic multipole components for the cells. The tolerances on field quality will then be by chromatic and an-harmonic effects of the mul-tipole components

Robustness of Resonance Free Lattices Against Gradient Errors

Resonance-free lattices make it possible to cancel the effect of non-linear resonances due to systematic multipoles in an alternating gradient circular machine. These lattices are made of identical cells with specified phase advances. It is therefore mandatory to examine to what extent the property remains valid in presence of gradient errors. In the case of LHC, three times the nominal gradient errors are acceptable from the point of view of both a3 and b4 components

Is LEP beam-beam limited at its highest energy?

The operation of LEP at 45.6 GeV was limited by beam-beam effects and the vertical beam-beam parameter xy never exceeded 0.045. At the highest energy of 94.5 GeV, the increased damping allows higher beam-beam parameters xy . Values above 0.07 in the vertical plane averaged over four experiments have been obtained frequently with peak values up to 0.075 in a single experiment. Although the maximum intensity in LEP is presently limited by technical considerations, some observations indicate that the beam-beam limit is close and the question of the maximum possible values can be raised. These observations are shown in this paper and possible consequences are presented. The optimum operation of LEP in the neighbourhood of the beam-beam limit is discussed

Correction of the Systematic b3 Error with the Resonance-Free Lattice in the LHC

The effect of the sextupole component b3 in the LHC dipoles on the resonance-free lattice has been investigated. It is shown that its dynamic aperture, without b3 spool piece correction, is close to that of the nominal LHC lattice version 6.0 with spool pice correction. A prerequisite is the addition of a few chromaticity sextupoles in the dispersion suppressors. Under this condition an increase of the b3 component by a factor of two can probably be accepted. Furthermore, a systematic relative gradient error up to one per mil can be tolerated without changing this result

Tame Functions with strongly isolated singularities at infinity: a tame version of a Parusinski's Theorem

Let f be a definable function, enough differentiable. Under the condition of having strongly isolated singularities at infinity at a regular value c we give a sufficient condition expressed in terms of the total absolute curvature function to ensure the local triviality of the function f over a neighbourhood of c and doing so providing the tame version of Parusinski's Theorem on complex polynomials with isolated singularities at infinity.Comment: 20 page

The Importance of Hydration in Wound Healing: Reinvigorating the clinical perspective

Balancing skin hydration levels is important as any disruption in skin integrity will result in disturbance of the dermal water balance. The discovery that a moist wound healing environment actively supports the healing response when compared to a dry environment highlights the importance of water and good hydration levels for optimal wound healing. The benefits of “wet” or “hyper-hydrated” wound healing appears to offer benefits that are similar to those offered by moist wound healing over wounds healing in a dry environment. This suggests that the presence of free water itself during wound healing may not be detrimental to healing but that any adverse effects of wound fluid on tissues is more likely related to the biological components contained within chronic wound exudate (e.g. elevated protease levels). Appropriate dressings applied to wounds must be able to absorb not only the exudate but also retain this excess fluid together with its protease solutes while concurrently preventing desiccation. This is particularly important in the case of chronic wounds where peri-wound skin barrier properties are compromised and there is increased permeation across the injured skin barrier. This review discusses the importance of appropriate levels of hydration in skin with a particular focus on the need for optimal hydration levels for effective healing

Experience with a Low Emittance Optics in LEP

Since start-up in 1998, LEP has operated with a low emittance lattice with a phase advance of 102 deg in the horizontal and 90 deg in the vertical planes. This optics provides a horizontal detuning with amplitude which is small enough to avoid a reduced dynamic aperture in the horizontal plane, a problem experienced in other low emittance lattices. The optics is designed to operate at the highest LEP energies up to and above 100 GeV, as well as at 45.6 GeV (still required to provide Z0s for the calibration of the experiments detectors). The experience gained with this low emittance lattice after one year of operation is presented and its future potential is discussed