37 research outputs found
An Analysis of the Special Safeguard Mechanisms in the Doha Round of Negotiations - A Proposed Price-trigger-based Safeguard Mechanism
Full text linkIn the Doha Round of negotiations on agriculture it has been decided that all developing and least developed Member countries of the WTO will have access to a Special Safeguard Mechanism (SSM). This means that developing countries will now have the option to temporarily impose higher tariff rates on the import of an agricultural product if there is either a surge in its import volumes or a sharp dip in its import prices. However, the exact mechanisms of the implementation of SSMs have not been spelt out. It is also not clear what legal provisions the Member countries will have to follow to use this safeguard mechanism. This paper takes a detailed look at the SSM and analyzes its usefulness for developing countries. It also explores how the concept of a special agricultural safeguard has evolved in the present round of negotiations and what are the country positions on SSMs in the Doha Round. The paper then proposes a price-trigger-based SSM instrument which is consistent with the goals spelt out in the Doha Development Agenda and satisfies most of the desired features of a safeguard instrument.WTO, agriculture, Volatility, Special safeguards, Tariff rates
Multi stage Kalman filter (MSKF) based time-varying sparse channel estimation with fast convergence
No full textThermodynamic product formula for Hořava–Lifshitz black hole
No full textAbstractWe examine the thermodynamic properties of inner and outer horizons in the background of Hořava–Lifshitz black hole. We compute the horizon radii product, the surface area product, the entropy product, the surface temperature product, the Komar energy product and the specific heat product for both the horizons. We show that surface area product, entropy product and irreducible mass product are universal (mass-independent) quantities, whereas the surface temperature product, Komar energy product and specific heat product are not universal quantities because they all depend on mass parameter. We further study the stability of such black hole by computing the specific heat for both the horizons. It has been observed that under certain condition the black hole possesses second order phase transition
Effects of one-step alkaline and two-step alkaline/dilute acid and alkaline/steam explosion pretreatments on the structure of isolated pine lignin
No full textBiological valorization of biomass most often depends on the efficient reduction of plant cell wall recalcitrance and conversion of lignin – the most recalcitrant constituent – to fuels, chemicals and/or value-added substances. Lignin conversion to fuels and value-added chemicals requires a sound understanding of the structure of lignin before and after different pretreatments. In the current work, an effort has been made to compare the structural differences in isolated pine lignin after one- (alkaline) and two-step (alkaline/dilute acid and alkaline/steam explosion) pretreatments. Our results indicate removal of the low molecular weight fraction of lignin after an initial alkaline pretreatment. A subsequent dilute acid pretreatment resulted in the loss of lignin inter-unit linkages such as β-O-4’ aryl ethers. However, with a steam explosion pretreatment, lignin exhibited a competing condensation process leading to increased condensed lignin structures.Fil: Das, Parthapratim. Oak Ridge National Laboratory; Estados Unidos. University of Tennessee; Estados UnidosFil: Stoffel, Romina Bettiana. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Nordeste. Instituto de Materiales de Misiones. Universidad Nacional de Misiones. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas Químicas y Naturales. Instituto de Materiales de Misiones; Argentina. University of Tennessee; Estados UnidosFil: Area, Maria Cristina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Nordeste. Instituto de Materiales de Misiones. Universidad Nacional de Misiones. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas Químicas y Naturales. Instituto de Materiales de Misiones; ArgentinaFil: Ragauskas, Arthur J.. University of Tennessee; Estados Unidos. Oak Ridge National Laboratory; Estados Unido
An experimental and theoretical investigation on torrefaction of a large wet wood particle
No full textEfeito de diferentes dopantes da polianilina nas características sensoras ao gás amônia
Full text linkDissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Centro Tecnológico, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Engenharia Química, Florianópolis, 2011A busca por melhoramentos e aplicações para os polímeros condutores vem sendo um grande foco de pesquisa na atualidade. Devido às propriedades especiais e à fácil síntese, a polianilina se mostra uma grande promessa tecnológica. Neste panorama o presente trabalho enfoca síntese, caracterização e utilização da polianilina dopada com três diferentes ácidos: ácido fluorídrico, clorídrico e sulfúrico, como elemento sensor ao gás de amônia. Para isso os três diferentes materiais foram sintetizados e submetidos a caracterizações elétricas, análise de espectroscopia de infravermelho por transformada de Fourier (FT-IR), difração de raios-X (DRX), microscopia elétrica de varredura (MEV) e energia dispersiva de raios-X (EDS), além de ciclos de resposta ao gás de amônia. Os resultados demonstraram que todos os ácidos utilizados deram origem a polímeros condutores, sendo que a maior condutividade foi obtida com o emprego do ácido H2SO4 no processo de dope da polianilina. As amostras avaliadas apresentaram-se sensitivas ao gás de amônia, sendo que tal sensibilidade se mostrou dependente do ácido utilizado. A morfologia e cristalinidade também se mostraram dependentes do tipo de ácido utilizado no processo de dope do material, sendo que a cristalinidade é maior para o polímero cujo contraíon empregado apresenta menor tamanho molecular, e maior eletronegatividade
