US Antidumping Petitions and Revealed Comparative Advantage of Shrimp Exporting Countries

The paper explores the trade competitiveness of seven major shrimp exporting countries, namely Vietnam, China, Thailand, Ecuador, India, Indonesia and Mexico, to the USA. Specifically, we investigate whether the United States (US) antidumping petitions impact upon the bilateral revealed comparative advantage (RCA) indexes for each of the seven shrimp exporting countries with the USA. Monthly data from January 2003 to December 2014 and the panel data model are used to examine the determinants of the RCA for the shrimp exporting countries. The empirical results show the shrimp exporting countries have superior competitiveness against the shrimp market in the USA. Moreover, the RCA indexes are significantly negatively influenced by shrimp prices, and are positively affected by US income per capita. However, the EMS (Early Mortality Syndrome) shrimp disease, domestic US shrimp quantity, exchange rate, and US antidumping laws are found to have no significant impacts on the RCA indexes. In terms of policy implications, the USA should try to reduce production costs of shrimp in the US market instead of imposing antidumping petitions, and the shrimp exporting countries should maintain their comparative advantage and diversify into new markets.

Stability and sensitivity analysis of Be-CoDiS, an epidemiological model to predict the spread of human diseases between countries. Validation with data from the 2014-16 West African Ebola Virus Disease epidemic.

Ebola virus disease is a lethal human and primate disease that requires a particular attention from the international health authorities due to important recent outbreaks in some Western African countries and isolated cases in European and North-America continents. Regarding the emergency of this situation, various decision tools, such as mathematical models, were developed to assist the authorities to focus their efforts in important factors to eradicate Ebola. In a previous work, we have proposed an original deterministic spatial-temporal model, called Be-CoDiS (Between-Countries Disease Spread), to study the evolution of human diseases within and between countries by taking into consideration the movement of people between geographical areas. This model was validated by considering numerical experiments regarding the 2014-16 West African Ebola Virus Disease epidemic. In this article, we propose to perform a stability analysis of Be-CoDiS. Our first objective is to study the equilibrium states of simplified versions of this model, limited to the cases of one an two countries, and to determine their basic reproduction ratios. Then, in order to give some recommendations for the allocation of resources used to control the disease, we perform a sensitivity analysis of those basic reproduction ratios regarding the model parameters. Finally, we validate the obtained results by considering numerical experiments based on data from the 2014-16 West African Ebola Virus Disease epidemic.

Dramaturgias en el teatro actual de las Antillas. Cartografía de poéticas en movimiento: Teresa Hernández y Josefina Báez

This dissertation aims to explore the contemporary Caribbean and its dramaturgy through the study of the artistic work of two remarkable artists: the Puerto Rican Teresa Hernández and the Dominicanyork Josefina Báez. Both artists are currently generating a lot of attention due to the internationalization of their creations, but still their work deserves even more consideration. These skilled stage artists connect various islands through their artistic work: Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, and the islands within New York City. The different cultures that converge and coexist in these places exemplify the process of hybridization that characterizes our modern world. Teresa and Josefina illustrate in their plays the plurality of the Caribbean, depicting a true multiplicity of languages and cultures that makes it impossible to adopt a fixed and unique conception of a national identity. They engage in the difficult task of finding out what it means to be a Puerto Rican, a Dominican or a New Yorker. Both performers clearly criticize the notion of an identity that pretends to fuse and include all the possible voices of every Caribbean nation under a sole definition. Therefore, one must consider the heterogeneity that surrounds us as the basis to approach the work of these two artists when evaluating the Caribbean, as well as the dramaturgical procedures these great performers employ. To begin with, how can we talk about the Caribbean? How can we talk accurately about dramaturgical procedures? Furthermore, how can we express with words the ephemeral aspect of the theatrical event? How can we use words to address a Caribbean reality, which contains European and American standards, but does not necessarily follow them? These are the questions that the present investigation seeks to answer; however, it is not an easy task. Thus, the real challenge of this dissertation is to offer a rigorous response to these questions...

Interaction and cooperative effort among scientific societies. Twelve years of COSCE

The evolution of knowledge and technology in recent decades has brought profound changes in science policy, not only in the countries but also in the supranational organizations. It has been necessary, therefore, to adapt the scientific institutions to new models in order to achieve a greater and better communication between them and the political counterparts responsible for defining the general framework of relations between science and society. The Federationon of Scientific Societies of Spain (COSCE, Confederación de Sociedades Científicas de España) was founded in October 2003 to respond to the urgent need to interact with the political institutions and foster a better orientation in the process of making decisions about the science policy. Currently COSCE consists of over 70 Spanish scientific societies and more than 40,000 scientists. During its twelve years of active life, COSCE has developed an intense work of awareness of the real situation of science in Spain by launching several initiatives (some of which have joined other organizations) or by joining initiatives proposed from other groups related to science both at the Spanish level and at the European and non-European scenarios.