Competition and cooperation between international courts: a critical approach to the new paradigms of cross-border dispute resolution model

This article examines the arising cross-border dispute resolution models (Cooperation and Competition among national Courts) from a critical perspective. Although they have been conceived to surpass the ordinary solution of a Modern paradigm (exclusive jurisdiction, choice of court, lis pendens, forum non conveniens, among others), they are insufficient to deal with problems raised with present globalization, as they do not abandon aspects of that paradigm, namely, (i) statebased Law; and (ii) standardization of cultural issues.

Exclusivity contracts and competition : the case of the Brazilian fuels market

Exclusivity contracts can help stations by providing brand-value that allows them to obtain higher profits, relative to unbranded retailers. However, branded retailers may have a stronger negative effect over its competitors’ profits. It is not clear which one of these two effects dominates (brand-value vs competition effect). Therefore, the impact of exclusivity over the number of participants in the downstream market is not determined. In this paper, I empirically study the effects of exclusivity agreements on competition in the Brazilian gasoline sector. In order to do so, I estimate an entry model of endogenous product-type choices using data of retailers’ locations and contract choices along with data from the 2010 Brazilian Census. I use my estimates to simulate entry decisions under two counterfactual scenarios: i) mandatory exclusivity and ii) no exclusivity.

Peat humic substances enriched with nutrients for agricultural applications: Competition between nutrients and non-essential metals present in tropical soils

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Períodos de interferência das plantas daninhas na cultura da cana-de-açúcar: II - capim-braquiária (brachiaria decumbens)

Um experimento foi conduzido em Olímpia-SP, com o objetivo de avaliar os efeitos de períodos de convivência e controle das plantas daninhas na produtividade da cultura da cana-de-açúcar. A cana foi plantada em maio de 1995, sendo colhida 15 meses após; a cultura anterior havia sido pastagem de Brachiaria decumbens e, em conseqüência, esta espécie foi a principal planta daninha presente na área experimental. Essa época de plantio é caracterizada por grande deficiência hídrica; mesmo assim, a população de B. decumbens tendeu a apresentar acúmulo crescente de biomassa seca durante todo o período de avaliação. Esse comportamento proporcionou intensa interferência na cultura da cana-de-açúcar, ocasionando 82% de redução na produtividade de colmos. A cultura pôde conviver com a comunidade infestante até 89 dias após o plantio (DAP), sem sofrer redução significativa na produtividade. O período mínimo de controle, para assegurar a máxima produtividade, foi de 138 DAP. Dessa forma, o controle das plantas daninhas foi crítico no período compreendido entre 89 e 138 DAP.

Períodos de matocompetição na cultura da soja (Glycine max (L.) Merril), cultivares Santa Rosa e IAC-2: II - Efeitos sobre características morfológicas das plantas e constituição química dos grãos

Foram, conduzidos experimentos de campo com os cultivares Santa Rosa e IAC-2 em dois tipos de solos, Latossol Roxo e Latossol Vermelho Escuro - fase arenosa, no Município, de Jaboticabal (SP), com o objetivo de estudar a influência do período de competição das plantas daninhas sobre algumas características morfológicas relacionadas à produção e composição química dos grãos, na cultura da soja. O delineamento experimental utilizado foi o de blocos ao acaso, sendo os cultivares mantidos sem e com matocompetição por períodos cujas extensões foram 0, 10, 20, 30, 40, 50 e 60 dias após a emergência. Com base nos resultados obtidos, pode-se chegar à conclusão que um período inicial curto (20 a 30 dias) livre da matocompetição, foi suficiente para que não ocorressem efeitos negativos, estatisticamente significativos, na altura final das plantas, no diâmetro do caule e na altura de inserção da vagem mais baixa, além de ser suficiente para que os teores de proteína, extrato-etéreo e cinzas, dos grãos, se mantivessem dentro dos valores normais esperados para os dois cultivares, nos solos estudados.

Períodos de interferência das plantas daninhas na cultura do arroz de terras altas. II - cultivar Caiapó

Os experimentos foram desenvolvidos nos anos agrícolas 2003/2004 e 2004/2005, em área experimental da Universidade Estadual Paulista, Campus de Jaboticabal (SP), com o objetivo de se determinarem os períodos de interferência das plantas daninhas na cultura do arroz de terras altas, cultivar Caiapó. O delineamento experimental foi em blocos ao acaso com quatro repetições e 16 tratamentos. Os tratamentos foram constituídos por períodos crescentes de controle ou de convivência das plantas daninhas após a emergência da cultura: 0-10, 0-20, 0-30, 0-40, 0-50, 0-60, 0-70 dias e 0-colheita. Nos dois anos, as famílias predominantes eram Poaceae, Asteraceae, Amaranthaceae e Malvaceae e as principais plantas daninhas presentes foram: Cyperus rotundus L., Cenchrus echinatus L., Digitaria spp Heist., Echinochloa crus-galli (L.) P. Beauv., Brachiaria decumbens Stapf., Eleusine indica Gaertn e Alternanthera tenella Colla. A cultivar de arroz de terras altas Caiapó deve ser mantida sem plantas daninhas nos 30 dias após a emergência.

Reduction of mercury(II) by tropical river humic substances (Rio Negro) - Part II. Influence of structural features (molecular size, aromaticity, phenolic groups, organically bound sulfur)

The influence of structural features of tropical river humic substances (HS) on their capability to reduce mercury(II) in aqueous solutions was studied. The HS investigated were conventionally isolated from Rio Negro water-Amazonas State/Brazil by means of the collector XAD 8. In addition, the isolated HS were on-line fractionated by tangential-flow multistage ultrafiltration (nominal molecular-weight cut-offs: 100, 50, 30, 10, 5 kDa) and characterized by potentiometry and UV/VIS spectroscopy. The reduction of Hg(II) ions to elemental Hg by size-fractions of Rio Negro HS was assessed by cold-vapor AAS (CVAAS). UV/VIS spectrometry revealed that the fractions of high molecular-size (F-1 > 100 kDa and F-2: 50-100 kDa) have a higher aromaticity compared to the fractions of small molecular-size (F-5: 5-10 kDa, F-6: < 5 kDa). In contrast, the potentiometric study showed different concentration of functional groups in the studied HS fractions. The reduction of Hg(II) by aquatic HS fractions at pH 5 proceeded in two steps (I, II) of slow first order kinetics (t(1/2) of I: 160 min, t(1/2) of II: 300 min) weakly influenced by the molecular-size, in contrast to the differing degree of Hg(II) reduction (F-5 > F-2 > > F-1 > F-3 > F-4 > > F-6). Accordingly, Hg(II) ions were preferably reduced by HS molecules having a relatively high ratio of phenolic/carboxylic groups and a small concentration of sulfur. From these results a complex 'competition' between reduction and complexation of mercury(II) by aquatic HS occurring in tropical rivers such as the Rio Negro can be suggested. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Cooperation on competition policy in Latin American and Caribbean bilateral trade agreements

Incluye Bibliografía

Multilateral rules on competition policy: an overview of the debate

Includes bibliography

Best practices in defence of competition in Argentina and Brazil: useful aspects for Central America

Includes bibliography

Spin-crossover in metallomesogens of iron(II)

Covalent grafting mesogenic groups to the coordination cores of the parent mononuclear low-spin and spin-crossover compounds afforded metallomesogenic complexes of iron(II). In comparison with the parent complexes the spin-crossover properties of the alkylated derivatives are substantially modified. The type of the modification was found to be dependent on the properties of the parent system and the nature of the used anion, however, the general tendency is the destabilization of the low-spin state at the favor of spin-crossover or high-spin behavior below 400 K. The structural insight revealed the micro-segregated layered organization. The effect of the alkylation of the parent compounds consists first of all in the change of the lattice to a two-dimensional lamellar one retaining significant intermolecular contacts only within the ionic bilayers. The comprehensive analysis of the structural and thermodynamic data in the homologous series pointed at the mechanism of the interplay between the structural modification on melting and the induced anomalous change of the magnetic properties. A family of one-dimensional spin-crossover polymers was synthesized and characterized using a series of spectroscopic methods, X-ray powder diffraction, magnetic susceptibility measurements and differential scanning calorimetry. The copper analogue of was also synthesized and its crystal structure solved. In comparison with the mononuclear systems, the polymeric mesogens of iron(II) are less sensitive to the glass transition, which was attributed to the moderate concomitant variation of the structure. Nevertheless, the observed increase of the magnetic hysteresis with lengthening of the alkyl substituents was ascribed to the interplay of the structural reorganization of the coordination core due to spin-crossover with the structural delay in the spatial reorganization of the mesogenic substituents. The classification of mononuclear and polymeric metallomesogens according to the interactions between the structural- and the spin-transition and analysis of the data on the reported spin-crossover metallomesogens led to the separation of three types, namely: Type i: systems with coupling between the electronic structure of the iron(II) ions and the mesomorphic behavior of the substance; Type ii: systems where both transitions coexist in the same temperature region but are not coupled due to competition with the dehydration or due to negligible structural transformation; Type iii: systems where both transitions occur in different temperature regions and therefore are uncoupled. Fine-tuning, in particular regarding the temperature at which the spin-transition occurs with hysteresis properties responsible for the memory effect, are still a major challenge towards practical implementation of spin-crossover materials. A possible answer to the problem could be materials in which the spin-crossover transition is coupled with another transition easily controllable by external stimuli. In the present thesis we have shown the viability of the approach realized in the mesogenic systems with coupled phase- and spin-transitions.

Experiment: Competition between calcifying and noncalcifying temperate marine macroalgae under elevated CO2 levels

Since pre-industrial times, uptake of anthropogenic CO2 by surface ocean waters has caused a documented change of 0.1 pH units. Calcifying organisms are sensitive to elevated CO2 concentrations due to their calcium carbonate skeletons. In temperate rocky intertidal environments, calcifying and noncalcifying macroalgae make up diverse benthic photoautotrophic communities. These communities may change as calcifiers and noncalcifiers respond differently to rising CO2 concentrations. In order to test this hypothesis, we conducted an 86?d mesocosm experiment to investigate the physiological and competitive responses of calcifying and noncalcifying temperate marine macroalgae to 385, 665, and 1486 µatm CO2. We focused on comparing 2 abundant red algae in the Northeast Atlantic: Corallina officinalis (calcifying) and Chondrus crispus (noncalcifying). We found an interactive effect of CO2 concentration and exposure time on growth rates of C. officinalis, and total protein and carbohydrate concentrations in both species. Photosynthetic rates did not show a strong response. Calcification in C. officinalis showed a parabolic response, while skeletal inorganic carbon decreased with increasing CO2. Community structure changed, as Chondrus crispus cover increased in all treatments, while C. officinalis cover decreased in both elevated-CO2 treatments. Photochemical parameters of other species are also presented. Our results suggest that CO2 will alter the competitive strengths of calcifying and noncalcifying temperate benthic macroalgae, resulting in different community structures, unless these species are able to adapt at a rate similar to or faster than the current rate of increasing sea-surface CO2 concentrations.

PeECE II - Pelagic Ecosystem CO2 Enrichment Study, Raunefjord, Bergen, Norway

The effects of CO2-induced seawater acidification on plankton communities were also addressed in a series of 3 mesocosm experiments, called the Pelagic Ecosystem CO2 Enrichment (PeECE I-III) studies, which were conducted in the Large-Scale Mesocosm Facilities of the University of Bergen, Norway in 2001, 2003 and 2005, respectively. Each experiment consisted of 9 mesocosms, in which CO2 was manipulated to initial concentrations of 190, 350 and 750 µatm in 2001 and 2003, and 350, 700 and 1050 µatm in 2005. The present dataset concerns PeECE II.

Mechanism of DNA polymerase II-mediated frameshift mutagenesis

Escherichia coli possesses three SOS-inducible DNA polymerases (Pol II, IV, and V) that were recently found to participate in translesion synthesis and mutagenesis. Involvement of these polymerases appears to depend on the nature of the lesion and its local sequence context, as illustrated by the bypass of a single N-2-acetylaminofluorene adduct within the NarI mutation hot spot. Indeed, error-free bypass requires Pol V (umuDC), whereas mutagenic (−2 frameshift) bypass depends on Pol II (polB). In this paper, we show that purified DNA Pol II is able in vitro to generate the −2 frameshift bypass product observed in vivo at the NarI sites. Although the ΔpolB strain is completely defective in this mutation pathway, introduction of the polB gene on a low copy number plasmid restores the −2 frameshift pathway. In fact, modification of the relative copy number of polB versus umuDC genes results in a corresponding modification in the use of the frameshift versus error-free translesion pathways, suggesting a direct competition between Pol II and V for the bypass of the same lesion. Whether such a polymerase competition model for translesion synthesis will prove to be generally applicable remains to be confirmed.

Competition for procurement shares

We propose a new procurement procedure that allocates shares of the total amount to be procured depending on the bids of suppliers. Among the properties of the mechanism are the following: (i) Bidders have an incentive to participate in the procurement procedure, as equilibrium payoffs are strictly positive. (ii) The mechanism allows variations in the extent to which affirmative action objectives, like promoting local industries, are pursued. (iii) Surprisingly, even while accomplishing affirmative action goals, procurement expenditures might be lower than under a standard auction format.