Environmental regulation and intra-industry trade

Meeta Keswani Mehra,Deepti Kohli 한국국제경제학회 2018 International Economic Journal Vol.32 No.2

The paper analyses complex interactions between intra-industry trade (IIT) and environment by extending Krugman’s model of monopolistic competition and trade. It is found that an increase in exogenous environmental tax by a country leads to a fall in its output (the scale effect) and aggregate pollution, and an increase in its number of varieties (the selection effect). With IIT, if Home is a net exporter, an increase in its environmental stringency leads to a negative scale effect, which reduces its export demand and raises its import demand. In contrast, a positive selection effect reduces its import demand. However, the first-order scale effect on exports dominates the second-order effect on imports, implying a rise in Home’s share of IIT with Foreign. The opposite holds truewhenHome is a net importer. Furthermore, the impact of a rise in environmental tax on aggregate welfare comprises the following counteracting effects: a negative scale effect, a positive selection effect, a lower level of aggregate pollution and a higher environmental tax revenue in autarky, and two additional effects, namely, changes in the level of exports and imports, under free trade. The overall change in aggregate welfare, in both autarky and free trade, is in general ambiguous.

Household Debt, Consumption, and Income Inequality

Meeta Keswani Mehra,Deepti Kohli 한국국제경제학회 2018 International Economic Journal Vol.32 No.2

Using the Johansen and Engle–Granger cointegration tests, we show that there is one cointegrating relationship between household debt, consumption, and income inequality in the United States for the period from 1929 to 2009. Given this result, we use a Vector Error- Correction model to further understand the dynamics among the three variables. Results indicate that increases in income inequality and consumption directly contribute to increases in household debt. Interestingly, the results reveal some feedback from household debt to income inequality. We also show that debt-driven consumption should be viewed with caution as the results show that increases in household debt correspond with future declines in the rate of consumption.

Addition of Endoscopic Ultrasound (EUS)-Guided Fine Needle Aspiration and On-Site Cytology to EUS-Guided Fine Needle Biopsy Increases Procedure Time but Not Diagnostic Accuracy

Rajesh N. Keswani,Kumar Krishnan,Sachin Wani,Laurie Keefer,Srinadh Komanduri 대한소화기내시경학회 2014 Clinical Endoscopy Vol.47 No.3

Background/Aims: Although the diagnostic accuracy of endoscopic ultrasound with fine needle aspiration (EUS-FNA) in pancreas adenocarcinomais high, endoscopic ultrasound with fine needle biopsy (EUS-FNB) is often required in other lesions; in these cases, it may bepossible to forgo initial EUS-FNA and rapid on-site cytology evaluation (ROSE). The aim of this study was to compare the diagnostic accuracyof EUS-FNB alone (EUS-FNB group) with a conventional sampling algorithm of EUS-FNA with ROSE followed by EUS-FNB(EUS-FNA/B group) in nonpancreas adenocarcinoma lesions. Methods: Retrospective cohort study of subjects who underwent EUS sampling of nonpancreatic adenocarcinoma lesions between February2011 and May 2013. Results: Over the study period, there were 43 lesions biopsied in 41 unique patients in the EUS-FNB group and 53 patients in the EUSFNA/B group. Overall diagnostic accuracy was similar between the EUS-FNB and EUS-FNA/B groups (83.7% vs. 84.9%; p=1.0). In thesubgroup of subepithelial mass lesions, diagnostic accuracy remained similar in the EUS-FNB and EUS-FNA/B groups (81.0% and 70.6%;p=0.7). EUS-FNB procedures were significantly shorter than those in the EUS-FNA/B group (58.4 minutes vs. 73.5 minutes; p<0.0001). Conclusions: EUS-FNB without on-site cytology provides a high diagnostic accuracy in nonpancreas adenocarcinoma lesions. There appearsto be no additive benefit with initial EUS-FNA but this requires further study in a prospective study.

High Occurrence of Non-Clear Cell Renal Cell Carcinoma in Oman

Venniyoor, Ajit,Essam, Abdul Monem,Ramadhan, Fatma,Keswani, Heeranand,Mehdi, Itrat,Bahrani, Bassim Al Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2016 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.17 No.6

It is conventionally accepted that renal cell carcinoma (RCC) occurs in older patients and the clear cell type is the most common histology. However, ethnic variations exist and this study was carried out to determine the epidemiological pattern of RCC in Oman. Ninety RCC patients who presented to a tertiary care center in the Sultanate of Oman from 2010 to 2014 were studied. The main findings were that the median age of presentation was low, more patients presented with localized stage, and there was a higher incidence of non-clear (especially papillary) histology. Data from other Gulf countries and possible reasons for the different profile are discussed.

Experimental and Numerical Analysis of A Novel Ceria Based Abrasive Slurry for Interlayer Dielectric Chemical Mechanical Planarization

Yun Zhuang,Leonard Borucki,Ara Philipossian,Eric Dien,Mohamed Ennahali,George Michel,Bernard Laborie,Yun Zhuang,Manish Keswani,Daniel Rosales-Yeomans,Hyosang Lee,Ara Philipossian 한국전기전자재료학회 2007 Transactions on Electrical and Electronic Material Vol.8 No.2

In this study, a novel slurry containing ceria as the abrasive particles was analyzed in terms of its frictional, thermal and kinetic attributes for interlayer dielectric (ILD) CMP application. The novel slurry was used to polish 200-mm blanket ILD wafers on an IC1000TM K-groove pad with in-situ conditioning. Polishing pressures ranged from 1 to 5 PSI and the sliding velocity ranged from 0.5 to 1.5 m/s. Shear force and pad temperature were measured in real time during the polishing process. The frictional analysis indicated that boundary lubrication was the dominant tribological mechanism. The measured average pad leading edge temperature increased from 26.4 to 38.4 °C with the increase in polishing power. The ILD removal rate also increased with the polishing power, ranging from 400 to 4000 A/min. The ILD removal rate deviated from Prestonian behavior at the highest p´V polishing condition and exhibited a strong correlation with the measured average pad leading edge temperature. A modified two-step Langmuir-Hinshelwood kinetic model was used to simulate the ILD removal rate. In this model, transient flash heating temperature is assumed to dominate the chemical reaction temperature. The model successfully captured the variable removal rate behavior at the highest p´V polishing condition and indicates that the polishing process was mechanical limited in the low p´V polishing region and became chemically and mechanically balanced with increasing polishing power.

Experimental and Numerical Analysis of A Novel Ceria Based Abrasive Slurry for Interlayer Dielectric Chemical Mechanical Planarization

Zhuanga, Yun,Borucki, Leonard,Philipossian, Ara,Dien, Eric,Ennahali, Mohamed,Michel, George,Laborie, Bernard,Zhuang, Yun,Keswani, Manish,Rosales-Yeomans, Daniel,Lee, Hyo-Sang,Philipossian, Ara The Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic 2007 Transactions on Electrical and Electronic Material Vol.8 No.2

In this study, a novel slurry containing ceria as the abrasive particles was analyzed in terms of its frictional, thermal and kinetic attributes for interlayer dielectric (ILD) CMP application. The novel slurry was used to polish 200-mm blanket ILD wafers on an $IC1000_{TM}$ K-groove pad with in-situ conditioning. Polishing pressures ranged from 1 to 5 PSI and the sliding velocity ranged from 0.5 to 1.5 m/s. Shear force and pad temperature were measured in real time during the polishing process. The frictional analysis indicated that boundary lubrication was the dominant tribological mechanism. The measured average pad leading edge temperature increased from 26.4 to $38.4\;^{\circ}C$ with the increase in polishing power. The ILD removal rate also increased with the polishing power, ranging from 400 to 4000 A/min. The ILD removal rate deviated from Prestonian behavior at the highest $p{\times}V$ polishing condition and exhibited a strong correlation with the measured average pad leading edge temperature. A modified two-step Langmuir-Hinshelwood kinetic model was used to simulate the ILD removal rate. In this model, transient flash heating temperature is assumed to dominate the chemical reaction temperature. The model successfully captured the variable removal rate behavior at the highest $p{\times}V$ polishing condition and indicates that the polishing process was mechanical limited in the low $p{\times}V$ polishing region and became chemically and mechanically balanced with increasing polishing power.